The Emeco Navy Chair 1006. An aluminum icon.

Several things come thru my mind once I admire the greatest aluminum chair of all times, The Emeco Navy Chair model 1006. First of all, being a former Navy guy and the son of a retired Navy officer, I have been surrounded by everything Navy from my early times and I learned to appreciate all the study and compromises one have to do when packing your life in one of those military vessels. The way you should see the Emeco Navy chair, is that of a military tool, some piece of machinery that was created for an specific goal and to complete some specific missions at that time. This chair is made today, exactly as it was made in 1944 and still today, it's guaranteed for 150 years. The satin finish on this chair is one similar of velvety texture, smooth and even. Main welds are grounded off even against the rest of the surface and spot welds on the top of the back bars are visible as a constant remainder that this chair is bomb proof. I have higher standards when it comes to side and lounge chairs and some of my chair collection consists on the "who's who in the world of design... from Eames to Bertoia, Nelson and Grcic. My home computer set up is very similar to those avialable to me when I was in the military, in fact, the two tone grey used and the aluminum trimming goes really well with the starkness of the chair and make the whole setup completed (and once I get the Apple Cinema Display in aluminum I will be in brushed aluminum Nirvana!)






Now a little bit of the Emeco Navy Chair history:

The product of a collaboration between Emeco and ALCOA in 1944 to produce a seaworthy chair for use by the US Navy, this sturdy aluminum chair is as near-indestructible as it is handsome. This sculptured masterwork is the result of a 77-step process hand-crafted by skilled experts that is such an exercise in perfection that it was chosen as the subject of a documentary film by Eames Demetrios. The form is comprised of one continuous piece of aluminum without seams.

The aluminum used in these chairs is subjected to a proprietary thermal treatment, making them three times stronger than steel. The anodized surface approaches the hardness of a diamond, and the hand-brushed finish just gets better with age, which is just as well - this chair has a life expectancy of at least 150 years, and can be used indoors or out, in even the harshest environments.

My process of getting one.
I was (like I'm always) looking for the perfect chair and I have considered the Emeco Navy Chair in several opportunities, only to get bumped by that red Eames or the Bertoia's addiction that I had a couple months ago. With the exception of the Bertoia Diamond chair (I whish I could ordered 2 at that time) I always get 2 chairs of each, the reason is, that I can alternate those chairs in the dining room, breakfast nook, outside patio or balcony. I wrote a note about how Target is getting into the knock-off business and had a replica of the emeco chair. Well, it seems that Dan Fogelson, from Emeco, saw the article and decided to contact me to talk about the chair and the post... one thing lead to another and I ended getting in contact with my local Emeco rep, who was Eric Meuwese from Contract Sources LLC and a couple of minutes later I was done, ordering 2 Standard Navy Chairs direct from Emeco. That was Tuesday afternoon. By Saturday around noon, in typical UPS fashion, a big box was dropped in front of my home (not knocking or requiring signing or anything!) but boy, I was happy to see the Emeco logos on that big box!




Proceeded to open the box and discovered a precious metal, completely wrapped around foam like in the movie from Eames Demetrios "77 steps"... The chairs are a dream. Very ergonomic, smooth to the touch, not too big and extremely light. Well done and a quality product if you know what you are getting. Yes, there are some visible weld spots but they are there for a reason. It's like buying a HMMV (Military Humvee) and complaining of the lack of accolades of modern luxury vehicles. This is the case of an Icon chair. A super hero of some sorts. Once that got idolized by our society. A blind admiration and devotion. A chair that has an identity crisis and still today it doesn't understand why it's placed on a fancy dining room of a NYC loft or a hip sushi restaurant in Japan instead of the USS Nimitz or Hammerhead submarine.

Now a big thanks to those great guys and gals who made this dream possible:

Dan Fogelson: for bending over backwards in order to help me get those chairs.

Eric Meuwese: for being the Miami local help that have everything in stock and ready to ship!

Billie Howe: for being kind enough to answer all my questions

Maria Pirela (my wife) for tolerating my chair addiction!

Info and numbers:

Dan Fogelson, 401 935 7088
dan@emeco.net • www.emeco.net

Eric Meuwese, 305 538 0052
info@contractsources.net • www.contractsources.net