About the Pierre Jeanneret design chair
Quality of Pierre Jeanneret design chair
The quality of a Pierre Jeanneret design chair can be assessed by 4 different elements: The type of wood, the type of rattan, the resemblance to the original Chandigarh design as by the vision of Pierre Jeanneret and the overall quality of the craftsmanship.
Unique chair made of wood and rattan
Since we make our chairs by hand and only use natural materials each of our chairs is unique. This can be seen in the difference in wood grain or in the way the rattan or webbing is applied on the seat by hand. We also number each chair with a unique deep wood laser engraving to make sure we can track each chair from plantation to our warehouse
The wood and rattan of our Chandigarh chair
There are many different types of rattan and teak wood and even more different levels of quality. For our Chandigarh chairs we only use carefully grown A-grade teak. This teak wood comes from the center of the tree and is the oldest with very few wood-knots. The rattan or webbing of our Chandigarh chairs comes from the best natural cane plants and is cut by hand into strings.
Buying a Pierre Jeanneret design chair online
Buying a chair online can be challenging. At Object Embassy we acknowledge this and therefore we provide free returns on all of our Pierre Jeanneret chairs. So you can try them at home. If, after buying the chair online, you somehow are not happy, you can return it to us free of charge. No questions asked.
Original, reedition or replica Pierre Jeanneret chair?
The only original Pierre Jeanneret design chairs are made in the 1950’s. Every chair produced today is a replica or reedition. Even the chairs produced by world famous brands are re-editions or replicas and often referred to as an Homage to Pierre Jeanneret.
Chandigarh, Capitol Complex or Pierre Jeanneret design chair
The design chairs are named differently with different manufacturers. Most commonly used is Pierre Jeanneret design chairs or Chandigarh style chairs. However Capitol Complex chairs are also used. Whether named Pierre Jeanneret, Capitol Complex, Chandigarh-style, all refer to the same design vision.
Product
It's a new production of a classic design.
Well, this is important to know. There are basically 2 types of Pierre Jeanneret design chairs. Chairs that are built in the 1950's - and newly built chairs. All chairs manufactured in the 1950's are considered originals (and unfortunately come with a hefty price tag).
Any newly made Pierre Jeanneret design chair is a re-edition. There obviously is a great difference in quality amongst the re-editions. There are good - and well, 'not so good' re-editions. We can honestly say our chairs are considered to be top-quality re-editions.
Great question. Our chairs can be returned free of charge within 14 days after delivery, so you can assess the chair in the quiet of your own home. If you don't like them, we pick 'm up. No questions asked. We're also working on opening our flagship store in Amsterdam where you can view the chair. In the meanwhile if you would like to have a look before making the purchase, please give us a call or send an email to schedule a private viewing at our studio. We're happy to have you over!
We can honestly say that we provide some of the best re-editions available for purchase.
Yes, we product exact re-editions of the 1950 chairs.
The only thing that we adjusted is that we slightly elevated the seating height to match the length of modern day people. People in the 1950's were on average shorter and thus needed slightly lower chairs. Our chair has a seating height of 45 cm which is todays standard dining / office chairs.
The way the rattan is applied to the seat and backrest of a chair is key in assessing the quality of a re-edition.
The original chairs have rattan applied in a so called 'Square weaving' application. To create this Square weaving, each string of rattan is carefully woven into the frame by hand. This results in a mesh of little squares and gives the chairs their typical 1950's look. It is a labour intensive proces, yet a chair with square woven seat and backrest can't be compared to any other.
Less accurate re-editions often use so-called 'diamond weaving'. These are rattan mats woven by machines into a 'diamond pattern' and stapled to the back of the frame.
Of all wood types, teak is likely to be the least sensitive to humidity. We dry our teak wood up to 5 weeks in a 'drying oven' to make sure the level of humidity in the wood is at a perfect level. This minimises the risk of warping. However given the fact that the chairs are made from solid wood there is always a small possibility that the wood will slightly warp (max. a few millimeters). This is absolutely normal for any type of wood product, however it may cause your chair to 'wiggle' a bit. In the case this occurs we advise to put an extra floor protector under one of the legs of the chair.
No. We only offer the chair in a slightly darkened natural teak color, just like the 1950's design. By offering only one color we are much more efficient so we can offer the chair at an unbeatable price.
We only have one product that we only sell directly to the consumer via our own website. By doing so we cut out the retailer and basically give their margin back to you. Also, by offering only one model and not providing tailored products we make our production process much more standardised - and thus efficient.
First of all the design, is the design according to the 1950's design?
Second thing to look at is the weaving of the rattan on the seat and backrest.
'Square weaving' like in the origninal 1950's design is In our humble view) the only way to go. Square weavind only can properly be achieved by carefully weaving each string of rattan by hand into the frame. This is a labour intensive proces, yet a square woven seat or backrest can't be compared with anything else.
Less accurate re-editions often use so-called 'diamond weaving'. These are rattan mats made by machine and stapled to the back of the frame. See more information about weaving here.
Third is the wood type, teak is the way to go.
Fourth and last is overall build quality. A quality product is hand made and crafted like a piece of art.
We only work with responsible teak. Our rattan (cane) that is used for the seating, comes from responsible sources.
We only use teak wood for 2 reasons. Firstly because it is the way the chairs are originally designed. Second because teak has several significant benefits over other types of wood. Of which the resistance to moisture, heat and bugs are the most important. By using teak, we assure our chairs will last for decades.
We finish the chair with a special teak oil. We add a little bit of dark pigment to the oil to colour the wood slightly darker, just like with the 1950's design. We use oil instead of varnish because it goes deep inside the wood and protects it from the inside out.
The most common name to call the chair is Office chair. However the chair is actually mostly used as a dining chair. That's why people often refer to it as the Dining chair. They are just different names for the same thing.
If you see a longer waiting time for the chairs in our shop it means we have sold out and are producing new chairs. Producing the chairs takes a considerate amount of time. And as important (and time consuming) is drying the wood. We dry our wood for up to 5 weeks to get the perfect level of humidity and assure a minimum of warping. So you may have to wait a little longer. Yet trust us, it is worth the wait.
All orders made before 23:00 are shipped the same day. Orders from the Netherlands will be delivered the next day. Orders placed in the weekends will be delivered on Tuesday.
The delivery time for orders outside the Netherlands varies from country to country. On average it will take around 7 days, however it may be a little shorter or longer depending on the country.
Due to high demand sometimes no have the items on stock. On the product page you can find the expected delivery times when the product is not on stock.
Returns and exchanges
Absolutely. We don't like unhappy customers, so it is possible to return your products free of charge within 14 days after delivery. No questions asked. Please see our returns page for more information.
We provide standard 2 years guarantee on the frame. However given the quality, we are 100% confident you chair will last much longer.
Other
Well, we're sorry, but that's not possible. Our mission is to provide a super high quality product for the consumer for an honest price. Therefore we have made a strategic decision to only sell online direct to our consumers.
Absolutely! If you have a specific request for larger orders, please send us an email and we'll be happy to help you out.
As for now, we only offer the Pierre Jeanneret Office chair because it allows us to offer the chair at an unmatched price point. However we are always open to feedback. So if you have a request or suggestion, let us know and we'll be super happy to have a look at it.