How to tell if an Eames Lounge Chair is real or fake?

Is there a quick ways to tell if an Eames chair is fake?

A neighbor of mine is moving and selling a bunch of stuff. Among that is a beautiful Eames Lounge Chair. He’s asking $1,200 for it.

He insists that the chair is real, but doesn’t have a way to prove it. I asked if he had a receipt or email and he said he purchased it from someone off of Craigslist about 3 years ago when he first moved in. The guy says he paid about $1,600 for it.

I’m hoping to stop by again after work. How can I know if it is real or fake?

Did you take pictures of the chair? If so, it would probably help if you shared them.

From that price, it makes me think that the chair is a replica, someone doesn’t know what they have or the chair is in bad shape…

If the chair was used when this guy bought it, I think that makes it twice as likely to be a replica. The Eames Lounge Chair is, perhaps, the most iconic piece of mid-century furniture there is. It retails for around $5,000 and holds it’s value very well.

I’m not an expert here and don’t have a real or replica Eames lounger. However, I do know a couple of common things that should instantly tell you if it’s a replica.

1. Does it recline? A real Eames is a lounge chair and does not recline. Many replicas will recline.

2. Pay attention to the base A real Eames has a solid die-cast Aluminum a base with 5 legs. Compare how solid the real one looks vs the Barcelona Design or Manhattan Home versions.

3. Hidden screws The shells of a real Eames conceal almost all the screws. The exception is the arm rest, which I believe has 2 or 3 underneath.

With that said I do think some of the replicas start around $1,000 and may use quality leather. Depending on the condition and how close the above match, you might offer him $500 or $600. I wouldn’t bank on it being real though.

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I didn’t take pictures and the chair wasn’t there when I went back to take a look. Someone had already bought it.

Sam, from what I remember, it did recline—so perhaps it wasn’t a real model after all.

You can find real ones on Ebay for $1,000 to $2,000. I think a key indicator would be wear.

If it looks almost new and it’s in that price range, it’s certainly a replica.

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