Has anyone ordered from there before? I would love to hear your reviews!

A friend of mine has that chair, it's flimsy with very visible poorly made welds, the chair is never level and yes, it's made of aluminum but painted in some form of aluminum color paint with a faux satin finish, so it looks like brushed while is not. Also the aluminum shows pitting and bubbles. Maybe I'm an Emeco embassador but he dumped his and he's in the process of buying an original 1006 NAVY. Buy an original, if you buy a knockoff, then you realize you hate it and trash it and buy the original later. That's pretty bad for the environment! ; P

joel maria pirela

I have ordered benches from Eurway before. I had no qualms with the process. Not even with the return process because unfortunately, the benches did not match my decor like I thought they would but they were of great quality and looked really nice in person.

I have ordered from Eurway. It is a pretty uneventful transaction; however, there is a reason this stuff is so cheap: 100% made in China.

P.S. I bought the Criss Cross benches seen here http://eurway.com/classics.lasso?itemid=4088&categorykey=92&subcategorykey=63&page=1&result=&-session=eo_user:3F463E841b0d722B24rss1387A83.
It was only the expresso color that didn't match, but I discovered that Chiasso sells the same benches in black for a lot more money.

I believe I saw some in a crate and barrel catalog too, so if you really wanted to see what you were getting you might be able to locate one instore before purchasing.

Moderndose.com carries a version without the cheap paint finish for $115 plus free shipping.

http://www.moderndose.com/product_info.php?cPath=21_30&products_id=152

Oh yuck. don't buy that terrible knock-off. what's $385 over 150 years? why buy something you will just throw out when you can get a chair with a lifetime guarentee? check out our site (emeco.net) - and if you want to know more about why the knock-offs are worth less - go to

http://www.emeco.net/documents/ComparisonEmecovsKnockoff.pdf

or call me: 1 401 935 7088

Actually, Dan, I think $385 over 150 years would be something like $10 million, depending on what kind of rate of return assumptions you want to make. So instead of leaving your grandkids financial independence and a knockoff chair, they get a chair with "smooth bends" and "legs integrated into seatpan". Lets not kid ourselves: the people on this website buying expensive chairs are not making prudent financial decisions; they are buying expensive chairs because they want to own expensive chairs.

That said, if I had the money, I'd buy an Emeco chair in heartbeat. They are awesome.

Laughing out loud....I lucked into a set of 4 of the genuine article, vintage WWII, for $40.00 for the set...

SCORE!

I am always dismayed when this website that supposedly celebrates good design and creativity recommends buying knockoffs. I regularly see the question: "where can I get something like this but cheaper." If you cant afford it, then you shouldnt own it. Buying knockoffs is supporting the theft of people's work and ideas.

OK Columbus and Dan. Some people know money doesn't grow on trees but still want and deserve great design in their lives. Check out the CB2 bandit chair. It's only $119.

"If you cant afford it, then you shouldnt own it. "
What a pompous ass!

Just go to institutional surplus auctions. I don't have the Emeco, but I have quite a few of the similar Goodform chairs in use or stored away that I've usually paid $5 or $10 for.

you can by the knock off chairs from the restaurant supply on the corner of Kenmar/Delancy and Bowery for about $69-79.
Price varies from store to store and whether or not it the aluminum is coated or uncoated.
They take about 1-2 weeks for the store to receive them.
I don't think they have home delivery.
They are made for restaurants, so the welding is industrial strength. I have 4 of them.

"If you cant afford it, then you shouldnt own it. "
What a pompous ass!

No..it's called integrity. I dont support the theft of other people's work and I dont steal myself. I dont buy fake Coach purses. I dont download music for free. I dont buy knockoffs of designer chairs because the original is out of my price range. If you want to steal, that's your choice. Just be honest about what you're doing.

When did imitation stop being the sincerest form of flattery? Buying a cheap knockoff is only theft when there's a correspondingly fake tag on it saying "Emeco" or "Coach", or whatever other brand.

Is the Emeco chair worth $300-400 or is it $300-400 because it's Emeco. That's the question. Sure it's well made but did it really take THAT much to produce the thing? A lot of manufactures/designers jack up prices on furniture that certainly should not cost the amount it sells for. For instance I saw this table online the other night (the website escapes me right now) but it was literally a slab of oak or somethingon 4 casters The table rose about 6 inches from the floor, approx 16 x 20 inches and it was $1500!!! (I wish I could find the link to post that table) Rediculous.

I like nice furniture. I have a Le Corbusier sofa but I'm about to purchase 2 Eames-style rockers from White...with no shame about it what so ever! If they can produce it for cheaper, why can't Herman Miller?

Knock offs are fine and not stealing. Often the "originals" are so expensive because the company needs to pay the designer and their manufacturing specifications.

Greenjunky...do you work for Moderndose.com???

"Is the Emeco chair worth $300-400 or is it $300-400 because it's Emeco. That's the question. Sure it's well made but did it really take THAT much to produce the thing?"

No and Yes-It indeed costs to develop and create something original, there are development costs and of course royalties to pay-but the major difference is labour-if Emeco pays a North Amercian or European employee an hourly rate which is the equivalent to the weekly or monthly wage in a chinese factory-well you do the math.
Lets not forget cheap products may look good on the price tag but it costs us all when we loose jobs to China-
So go ahead buy the knock off-but dont let your kids lick it!

Yes, the Emeco chair is worth whatever price Emeco chooses to sell it for because it's their product.

If the company was flattered, they wouldnt be fighting the sale of the knockoffs:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/08/AR2005070801970.html

http://2modern.blogs.com/2modern/2006/06/knockoffs.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/02/garden/02knock.html

If you were a songwriter, and someone else recorded your song without your permission and without paying you for it...would the "flattery" of that action satisfy you? I doubt it.

There's a spectrum of knock-off: some cheap versions resemble the original, some are outright copies. The question of whether Emeco has trademarked or copyrighted all aluminum chairs with solid seats by slatted backs, or just a particular style of chair or manufacturing process is one that will be decided by judges.

Some people buy a thing based on how it looks. Other people buy the same thing based on how it was made.

I agree that in a perfect world, everyone would buy the well-made original product. I also think that there are a huge number of reasons the world is not perfect.

"Greenjunky...do you work for Moderndose.com???"

Apparently.

Dan and ColumbusOH,
Original? Original what? All designers are making incremental improvements to an extraordinary legacy of prior creativity and their high and mightiness doesn't extend to remunerating their own influencers.

Further, the comparison between the Emeco and SIMILAR chairs and digital copies of music that are IDENTICAL to the original art is completely specious. One is theft, the other is influence.

Finally, I think you are making a huge mistake in dissuading design-interested consumers from entry-level purchases. When they turn 45 and they have 20 years of watching poor design fall apart, they are exactly the ones that will pay the prestige premium for top line design.

Oh, here we go again with the whole original vs. copy argument. My feeling is that anybody anywhere in any medium who designs or creates something great will be copied to some extent. When Britney Spears had a hit debut album, overnight they cranked out hundreds of dimwitted teenie-bopper clones. When Galliano produces a new haute couture gown, there will be knock-off versions at H&M. When Apple put out the iPod, Microsoft responded with the Zune. Why should furniture be any different? In my opinion, knock-off versions are fraudulent/unethical ONLY when said knock-off is branded/labeled as the real deal.

I'm really surprised at all these comments and the idea that buying knock- offs is thievery.

Not everyone can afford an authentic Emeco chair or whatever… so why not buy something that’s similar. You are buying a style of chair. Imagine how limiting furniture would be if styles could not be replicated or improved. You can’t have license to a style. And yes, the comment “If you cant afford it, then you shouldnt own it” is pompous and elitist. Maybe you shouldn’t own an Emeco chair, but perhaps a similar chair of the same style.

Buying a “knock-off” is great for people who can’t afford the name brand or constantly change their style. People do realized their purchase may not by as durable as a $350 chair.

And the comments on Coach purses and music. While other purses may not be of the same material or have the same logo as Coach purses, they can look like them in style. For example, take the Coach Gallery Tote… take away the material and logos, and you’ve got a basic tote bag that you could pick up anywhere. It’s a style of bag, just like a style of chair. And regarding music… if you listen to the radio, old music is constantly sampled.

AT- I appreciate you showing more economical ways to have similar furniture as those from high priced designers. While designer furniture does have its value and durability, those of us on a limited budget, who love design, do appreciate an alternative.

I hate you, edtex. That is just soooo unfair!

Hi, AT,

I found the stupendously beautiful 'Louis Ghost' chair through your site.

Philippe Starck rules.

But cheap substitutes?

Starck works with, for example, Kartell, to mass produce his pieces so that economies of scale make them affordable.

He doesn't have to do that. He could produce limited editions and bring in the same income.

A little respect, please.

Not everyone can afford a Mercedes Benz. Would you drive a fake one, if there were such a thing?

But Julia, etal, I'm not sure how you can rectify a "love of design" with a copy, even a good one.

You are buying for the look, not really the "design." Don't confuse the two.

I just stumbled across this so I'm a little late to the table but:

The fake Eurway chairs are aluminum and have three stripes. Thats where the similarities end.

Unlike many other classics the 1006 Navy Chair didnt start out as a 'design' item. It was constructed because the US Navy needed a lightweight, non corrosive, STURDY chair. I highlight the word sturdy because THAT is what ensures an Emeco chair will last for 150 years.

The Eurway chair is made from an aluminum with a temper of about T2 - thats soft enough for an average human to bend with their bare hands. A Eurway chair has a weightlimit of about 250 lbs. Thats about half of my Uncle Ernie.

The Emeco chairs are made from T-0 aluminum that is put through a series of hardening steps that bring the temper up to T-6. An Emeco chair has a weight limit of 1750lbs. Thats almost a FREAKIN TON.

So - looks may be similar - but the chairs are very VERY different.

Oh yeah, and that whole thing about how an Emeco chair is 80% recycled aluminum, 100% recyclable, and still made in the same little factory in Pennsylvania that its always been made in - providing jobs to American workers instead of shipping them overseas to China. That too.