Courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eames_Lounge_Chair
I was window shopping with hubby in Pacific Place Hong Kong when I saw the Eames Lounge Chair showcased in Lane Crawford’s window. I was introduced to the chair on Fraiser (my favorite TV series) and did not understand why Fraiser kept on saying it was a work of art as it did not seem particularly attractive. But I was completely wrong.
Once I sat down on the Eames Lounge Chair, I was hooked. I never sat on a chair so comfortable. Historically, lounge chairs and I never got along because it is mainly designed for the average man. However, sitting on the Eames was akin to resting on a cloud. In the future, I hope to place the Eames chair the way Fraiser has it in his apartment. It would be the perfect place to read my books. Hubby agrees as he always liked the look of the chair and finds it super comfortable as well.
The only thing we did not like was the cost. Lane Crawford priced at an eye watering $58,000HKD which is around $7,465USD! What made the sticker shock even worse is that the exact same chair costs around $3500 in the US. It is a prime example of how quality goods is twice as expensive in Hong Kong compared to New York. This is why I am dreaming of the US all the time. Nothing seems expensive anymore after Hong Kong prices.
We have the same sort of markup on high-quality goods on the mainland (at least in Beijing). I think the VAT and import duties have a lot to do with it. Sad.
It is sad. In Hong Kong there are lots of inferior goods priced cheaply but all the high quality products costs an arm and a leg.
I coveted this for more than a year even though I thought it looks like an ant wearing a roach coat and it is heavy so you have to clean around it and lift up to be thorough.
Now I am over it even though I see it on tv all the time like those KItchenaid stand mixers which I also find fug but actually own because I plan to diy my own Chinese snacks SOME DAY and a stand mixer means you really won’t be tempted to own a Japanese bread machine.
For more than a year, I hated the American price but couldn’t find anything that looked like a comfortable way to sit not flop on in the living room. Now I am cycling through a new phase that I used to think was inexplicable and fug (it’s still fug) – office chairs at the dining table but not the pseudo-modern ones by Germans – actual office chairs
- use a super spendy office chair as a dining room table during meals and then roll it back to the desk and yes … I do dream of having a folding table like a typical Chinese immigrant family that I would tuck away behind something when not in use.
I think it was this office chair that killed my Eames jones – it is already super overpriced but it IS wonderful in black pleather:
http://www.globaltotaloffice.com/gi_2009/control.php?record_id=465
What a terrible number for a Chinese-owned chair. It is the most expensive thing in the house too but no regrets. If I had a place in HK, I would SHIP it there – that’s how much I like it.
Yes, I use it to watch tv but you can’t really sit back and read a book in it so the Eames would win in that respect.
It’s so sad how overpriced everything when so much heavy solid and graceful Chinese furniture is cheaper than Pottery Barn.
Some of the new designs trying to be modern and appeal to Westerners is really fug though. Chinese should just stick with the classics that show up in expensive apartment listings in Manhattan ALL the time.
The container store has a nice office chair for $150 USD which I plan to get in the future. But the Eames…I think I’ll go back this weekend to sit on it some more.