BLOGS

5 Tips On Starting Your Own Vintage Eames Collection

The mid-century modernism style, which focuses more on the use of clean lines and organic shapes, has served as the foundation for the Eames design philosophy. Collecting vintage Eames is both fashionable and comfortable at a reasonably priced price that will step up your interior house design.

Ever since the 1940s partnership with Herman Miller of the Herman Miller Furniture Company, Ray and Charles Eames have been conceptualizing, experimenting, and creating furniture. The lounge chair and ottoman being the most well-received among all their chair manufacturing designs. It had four materials at first—bent and welded wire mesh, cast aluminum, fiberglass-reinforced plastic, and molded plywood. Up to this day, the Herman Miller Furniture Company still makes Eames chairs which are still being patronized by many. The vintage Eames collection’s appeal results from both a timeless design and prominent pop culture references. This makes the vintage Eames collection popular especially with luxury homes in the Philippines. Here are five tips to start a vintage Eames collection that’ll get you started.

1. Uncover the History

Quick furniture has entered society in a similar way as quick fashion and other instant products. Nowadays, when you stumble upon a stunning Eames chair at a hotel and learn at home that it costs thousands, it’s easy to start looking for alternative copies.

The issue with decorating our luxury real estate with low-quality knockoffs is many. Not only does it plagiarize designers’ work but it also has little to no value or durability. One of the best tips to start a vintage Eames collection is to learn about the historical background of each well-made vintage Eames collection rather than searching the internet for the lowest price on a copycat Eames lounge chair.

5 Tips On Starting Your Own Vintage Eames Collection

Story behind an Eames Furniture

Charles Eames believed that the prerequisite for a good design is understanding the need. During their joint careers, Charles and Ray had seen the demand for multipurpose furniture that was inexpensive yet of great quality. This led to them experimenting to search for solutions to this problem. For forty years, the Eameses explored the potential of adaptable small storage units, foldable couches at home, school seating, stadium seating, and airline seating. Basically, chairs could be used almost anywhere.

This means that each piece of the vintage Eames collection has been crafted with much thought and effort using high-quality objects. This interesting background makes it irresistible to want this furniture in your luxury real estate.

2. Value the Patina

There is something about aging that adds to the appeal of Eames furniture. Having something with an honest, original patina in your luxury real estate is often even preferable to owning a flawless piece straight out of the factory.

Aged Vintage Eames Furniture

The next guide in buying vintage Eames furniture involves the fact that Ray and Charles themselves have considered the age and wear of their designs during the conceptualizing phase. They’ve tried to see what their furniture would look like in 10 years, allowing them to produce timeless and fully functional pieces. Best for luxury real estate.

Take for example the Eames chair and ottoman, which has long set the bar for comfort and style, and continues to be highly sought-after. Its patina may be traced back to the Eames family’s invention of molded plywood chairs in the 1940s. The rich plywood molding and original Naugahyde covering are what made the piece timeless until now.

3. Consider the Better

The X-based chairs are what people desire when they’re on the lookout for the previous models of the fiberglass lounge chair. What they don’t know is that the H-base is a better design.

Diverse Ray and Charles Eames Designs

The X-base of Charles and Ray’s iconic four-legged fiberglass chair was changed to an H-base after a couple of years. They did it because the X-base’s legs often splayed because of the one point of attachment. Being devoted to providing highly-functional furniture, the Eameses made the necessary modifications.

In light of this, another guide to the vintage Eames collection is to consider the better option. The Eameses have diversity as well as sustainability in their minds with every release. Each decade has the best and most appropriate vintage Eames collection for you.

Thanks to the progressive minds of Ray and Charles Eames, the vintage Eames collection has diverse designs with one becoming better than the other.

Value the Patina

4. Watch out for the mix-and-matched

From the original Eames chair and ottoman to the four-legged fiberglass chairs, Herman Miller has produced Eames furniture in a range of leather colors with complementary woods for the shell. Each production is in line with the original Eames standards by the Swiss company Vitra for international distribution.

However, this type of furniture has its fair share of reproductions and replicas available in the market. Knowing the tips to start a vintage Eames collection includes learning to search for revealing elements to determine whether your Herman Miller chair is the real deal. You wouldn’t want to decorate your luxury homes in the Philippines with just replica, counterfeit, or mix-and-match upholstered furniture.

Franken-Vintage Eames Collection Exists

It is not a secret that some sellers and distributors of vintage Eames collections sometimes replace the original designs or mix and match a chair’s seat or frame with another. This may look harmless but it’s a massive no-no when purchasing Eames furniture because it lowers a piece’s value. Aside from that, Eames furniture is made with utmost precision from years of research and experimentation.

Replacing certain parts of it can affect the functionality of the piece as well, making it unsuitable as furniture for your luxury real estate.

As a collector, part of the guide to the vintage Eames collection is locating items with original features. You want to look for authentic bases and a few little features that can assist you in confirming whether a piece has been tampered with, like the condition of the screws used. The shinier they are, the more suspicious you should get if you’re getting a vintage one.

To be on the safe side, check to see whether the pieces have the labels of the Eames studio, Vitra, or Herman Miller at the bottom. You can also ask the vintage dealer for more pictures so that you can inspect if any parts are out of the ordinary vintage Eames collection.

5. Take an Eames Education

If you want a more thorough guide in collecting Eames Furniture, the Eames Institute Collection immortalizes the legacy that the Eameses have created. They share the philosophy of the Eameses with longtime Eames devotees by putting it into practice and teaching people how to get the most out of everything they create.

Welcome to Eames Institute

The Eames Institute is the appropriate place to start learning about the Eameses. An Eames expert can provide tips to start a vintage Eames collection. This institute dwells into the historical process of making every Eames furniture as well as the impact that it had on society. It also includes antique Herman Miller catalogs and design books for those who want to expand their expertise on such furniture. As a start, you may want to check out Connections: The Work of Charles and Ray Eames, published in 1976 and accessible at the Eames Office. This is one of the most comprehensive introductions to the work and philosophy of Ray and Charles Eames.

Take an Eames Education

Conclusion

The vintage Eames collection comes in a variety of forms. Some releases used specific wood. Their textiles came in a variety of color schemes. Some of them were monochromatic while most relied on repeated abstract, often geometrical or visibly hand-drawn small details. It is because of these design choices that the outcome was typical of much of the work done by the Eames: the vintage Eames collection was both contemporary and humanistic, abstract and yet approachable.

Many of the Eameses’ immensely successful furniture designs were popularly adopted for both residential and commercial timeless usage, and are still being produced today. Most especially in real estate, furniture like the vintage Eames collection adds so much personality and value to any home. Knowing this guide to the vintage Eames collection will help aspiring collectors like you to get the most out of every piece.

Decorate your Luxury Home at Brittany

Find the ideal luxury homes in the Philippines at Brittany Corporation. Experience an exquisite and convenient lifestyle at one of our many luxury real estate.

Grab the best house and lot for sale at any of Brittany’s lot properties at Alabang, Baguio, Davao, Laguna, and even Tagaytay. Are you looking for high-end condo deals instead? Look no further and visit the Swiss-inspired luxury condos at Alpine Villas in Crosswinds.

Be it your dream home or a vacation house for the summer, Brittany Corporation has plenty of options to choose from. Don’t miss out on our offers and contact us now. Let’s bring your luxury dream to reality.

To know more details about Brittany Corporation and our property listings, don’t forget to visit our website, LinkedIn, YouTube channel, and other social media platforms.