Need some inspiration for your new home office furniture choices? You might want to check out some of the world’s most expensive office chairs.
These days, you can get a very nice and supportive office chair for just a few hundred dollars. These chairs will include modern ergonomic support and adjustments, nice materials, and plenty of comfort. But, with that in mind, just imagine what a few thousand will get you.
Or, as you’ll see in our first example, how about over a million?
Sit down. Maybe even put your feet up. And let us show you some of the most expensive chairs in the world.
A Few Of The World’s Most Expensive Office Chairs
Pininfarina’s Aresline Xten
Cost: $1.5 million
Coming in at number one by quite a margin is the Pininfarina Aresline Xten, currently priced at around $1.5 million!
What allows this chair to be so dramatically-priced? Well, firstly it’s designed by the same company that builds Ferraris and Cadillacs, so this is a company that only associates itself with lavish style and class.
Using a material called Dynatech, a fabric that has previously been worn by Olympic athletes, the back and seat of this chair move independently, providing you with the maximum level of ergonomic support throughout the day.
It also features a material called Technogel that adapts to the shape of the user’s body, alleviating pressure points in the sitting bones and lumbar region. The price tag might be breathtaking, but the company has at least tried to make it worth your money. It’s created a chair that absolutely pushes the boundaries when it comes to support and comfort.
Available in a range of colors, this currently holds the title as the most expensive office chair currently on the market.
Is it worth the money?
We’re not going to try and convince you we’ve sat in it to find out. But it’s unlikely to be objectively worth $1.5m. No single swivel chair is ever likely to be that far ahead of every other swivel chair on the planet in terms of deliverable, measurable comfort and support.
But the cache. The bragging rights. The ability to casually mention that you own the world’s most expensive office chair, and to treat it like it came from K-Mart.
That, to the right buyer, might well be priceless.
Wegner Swivel Chair
Cost: $12,500
Well…that came down with a bump, now didn’t it?
Remarkably cheaper than our first option, we have the Wegner Swivel chair. But don’t reach for your credit card just yet – that’s still a lot of dollars for a swivel chair.
It looks like a lot more dollars when you see the design of the Wegner chair – it’s extremely minimalistic, with one solid wood backrest and a simple four-pronged wheelbase. You might be forgiven for thinking that this is a severe case of the emperor’s new chair. In fact, you might wonder where all that money is going.
Well, some of the money’s going into the wide range of customization options. When buying a Wegner, you can choose between four different types of wood, some of which are taken from 150-year-old trees, as well as the choice of either leather or fabric for the seat.
Another explanation for this chair’s hefty price tag is that it has been designed by a Danish master, Hans J. Wegner, who has chosen to give this chair its ergonomic, yet still aesthetically uncompromising design.
This is a chair of supreme simplicity and style.
It’s an example of zen spending – the achievement of simplicity through the emptying of bank accounts.
If you appreciate furniture design, it’ll bring a kick of cache to your office. Will it convince anyone still in sticker-shock from the price? You decide.
Eammes Executive Work Chair
Cost: $3319
This next chair has great historical significance – it was designed by Charles and Ray Eames for the Time-Life building in Rockefeller Center in New York in 1960.
Envisioned as the most comfortable chair then in existence, it combined a blend of premium leathers, colors, base and frame finish with castors or glides, as they were called.
It also featured fine detailing with fabric buttons, with the chair itself available in either leather or fabric. It brought a 5-star chrome base and a tilt mechanism to the party for an added degree of comfort. With deep seating and padded armrests, this increased the longevity of the working day tenfold!
These days people might be purchasing the Eammes as much for its value as an artwork as for its use as an item of furniture. But if nothing else, that proves this classic design has stood the test of time, making it a desirable item at an office that seeks to exude success and sophistication.
However, for your average freelance home-based worker or gamer, the Eammes chair might feel like a relic from another age. It certainly doesn’t provide the ergonomic support that more modern chairs have designed right in.
So, whether many 21st century chair aficionados would be happy to pay the $3,000 and change to bring the Eammes home remains uncertain.
Vitra Grand Executive Lowback Chair
Cost: $4425
A thousand dollars more expensive than our previous chair, the Vitra Grand Executive Chair fuses the elegance and comfort of a lounge chair with the functionality of an office chair.
It combines classic materials such as chrome and leather in a modern ergonomic design to give this modern chair a distinctly vintage spirit.
Certain areas of the chair have remained rigidly vintage, almost to a fault. The armrests, for example, are not adjustable like a lot of modern ergonomic office chairs, but it does have a wingback style and high back, which provides primitive lumbar support.
It also has an automatic weight adjustment system that shifts with you, providing you with maximum support throughout your working day.
The chair will also be appealing for those with an environmental conscience, as it’s made from 40% recyclable materials, 80% of which can still be recycled after disassembly.
For those looking for a stylish, vintage-style chair with a few basic ergonomic features, this may very well be the chair for you.
However, if you’re an indoor gamer or home office worker who wants maximum support for those long back-breaking sit-down sessions, this might seem like not enough chair for too much money.
Arper Aston Executive Chair
Cost: $3695
Still hovering at around the $4000 price point, the Arper Aston Executive Chair looks like a far more modern proposition for chair connoisseurs. With an armless aerodynamic style, it comes in three separate heights – low, medium and high-backed.
It has a compact, lightweight body with a solid steel frame, injection-molded cushions and either fabric or leather upholstery. It also comes with a gas operating height adjustment, tilt mechanism and self-braking castors.
People familiar with the functions of most modern office chairs will probably see little difference between the Arper Aston and its far cheaper counterparts that provide the same ergonomic comforts without the high price tag.
There’s a degree of style and a little chic geek-tech about it, but it’s difficult to see where, for instance, around $3,000 of the price actually gets spent.
Ekornes Stressless Magic Office Chair
Cost: $3445
The Norwegian manufacturer of the Stressless Magic has attempted to justify the hefty price tag of this chair by claiming it’s the comfiest chair they’ve made to date. But does it live up to its hype?
With a luxuriously wide backrest and seat, this chair contains foam and fiber material that conforms to the shape of the user’s body to give a high degree of comfort.
This vintage-style beast also comes with an angle-adjustable recliner, pushing that comfort to new levels..
However, it has encountered a large number of negative reviews online, including users who have experienced rapid wear and tear as well as discoloration in the leather after a relatively short period. Users have also experienced increased back pain from poor lumbar support.
It’s another expensive chair with an incredibly appealing exterior, but it lacks some features and support that users demand of even much less pricey chairs.
