Is Your Wassily Chair the “REAL DEAL?”
The video shows a few tips to help you determine if a Wassily chair is the real deal or a knock-off.
The list of clues to look for are:
If the chair was manufactured prior to 2022, the tube ends of the real deal have finely welded ends. Knock-offs have caps on the tube ends. This is the most obvious indication. (The newest version of Knoll’s Wassily frames has caps on the tube ends. This will make those frames with the finely welded ends more valuable over time.)
2. Look to see if the stitching pattern on the leather goes around the loops. This is a strong indication as it's just a decorative stitch line with no structural significance. The knock-off manufacturers tend not to bother with that decorative touch for cost considerations.
3. The straps are real vegetable tanned leather which would feel stiff (virtually no flex) and very smooth (no distortions like waviness across the leather's surface). They may sag a bit. That’s a normal part of their aging process.
4. The straps are made from two pieces of leather sewn together with the bottom piece shorter than the upper piece. The upper piece wraps around the tubular frame. Often there is a thin sheet of fiberboard inserted between the upper and lower panels. This won’t be obvious unless you separate the upper and lower leather panels.
5. The end of the upper leather panel is skived. This means it's tapered to a degree so it neatly fits in between where the two leather components are joined (stitched).
6. There are two holes for set screws, one on either side of the seam on the bottom rails. The set screws turn in past the profile of the metal tube allowing the frame to be separated, front from back. They cannot come out. You will break them if you try hard enough to get them out.
7. Fasteners are 5 mm Allen head bolts except on the bottom rail where the set screws are 3 mm Allen head.
8. Prior to roughly the year 2000, there was either a Knoll or Stendig paper sticker (logo) put on the underside of the seat at the factory. Sometimes I’ve found it under one of the arms. It was affixed with adhesive which dries out and gravity takes over as they often fall off. If you don't see the sticker, look to see if there is a small outline image of a sticker as evidence that one was there. If it was purchased after 2000 or so, then the Knoll logo is embossed into the metal frame. Also, there was a period of time around the year 2000 when Knoll had a silver Knoll logo sticker on a tube. Later versions of Stendig also had a logo sticker on a tube.
9. An original Sales Receipt clearly adds to the evidence of the chair’s authenticity.
If you are planning on selling your chair, consider listing it for free on our new Wassily Exchange. To learn more click here: Wassily Exchange.
It’s wise to properly care for the leather with the correct leather cleaners and conditioners. For Wassily grade leather, look into Advanced Leather Solutions care products as they are properly chemical engineered for leather. Here’s a link: https://www.advleather.com/product-list.html
Note: Recently Knoll has modified the frame, replacing the finely welded tube ends with a cap, reducing manufacturing costs. In my opinion this modification cheapens the frame. This modification makes the original frames with the fine weld increasingly valuable as they don’t make them this way anymore.
