A high quality chair restored to its original condition. It has been re-upholstered with a rustic burgundy cowhide and painted with a "kona colored" enamel on the steel frame. A high level of detail has been accomplished and overall the chair is quite nice. It makes no squeaky noises when in use.
The wheels are original and have been reconditioned to perform smoothly. The height of the seat is adjustable without tools.
Notice that the rounded edges of the leather do not have any creases, imperfections or folds.
The back rest uses the original tacks and are spaced as nicely as they originally were when manufactured. Each tack has been polished and clear coated with a specialized lacquer. The acorn nuts seen here supporting the backrest are originial to the chair. They are shiny and smooth with no corrosion. Each nut is actually a regular hex nut with the acorn shell welded on to it. Modern acorn nuts have not been manufactured this way since before World War II. No clear coat on the nuts.
The center post is a heavy, solid piece of steel. It has been sanded, polished and lightly oiled. The bottom board includes manufacturer information and can be seen more clearly later in this gallery.
The metal frame matches more closely to the leather than the photograph would indicate.
The piece that looks like a carriage bolt has had the original paint stripped off, polished and clear coated with a specialized lacquer. It is connected to a large acorn nut that presses the frame together between 2 ball bearings that lock into little holes for stabilizing the backrest.
Notice how the corner of the seat is rounded nicely and has no creases or folds.
The original label has been salvaged and looks pretty good. The center reads "Fritz-Cross Efficiency Creations". Cannot tell what is wriiten in red in the middle of the gold part of the label.
The backrest has a label holder that has been polished and clear coated with a specialized lacquer.
The Fritz-Cross name seen here has been polished and clear coated with a specialized lacquer. Originaly, it was painted. The Fritz-Cross name is seen at least 7 times on this chair. The bottom brass knob is spring loaded and allows the height of the chair to be adjusted.
The wheels have been smoothed out to remove any flat spots from sitting too long in one spot. They have also been cleaned, polished and lubricated. All of them roll nicely. No clear coat on the bare metal. Would be very difficult to replace these if something were to happen. The bearings and wheels were actually manufactured by Kilian Manufacturing Corporation.
Complete back rest before attaching to chair. Notice that the tacks are mostly evenly spaced. Each one polished and coated with a specialized clear lacquer. Name plate is original to the chair.
The headrest has a wood backing that looks like it was machine carved from a solid piece of wood. Had one spot that needed to be glued. Has recessed nuts that receive screws to hold the headrest to the frame. Notice how round and flat the backside leather is. This is needed so that the final piece of leather will conform in a uniform way. Very hard to do as it took several attempts wetting the leather, stretching it and then tacking it down. There are a lot of tacks on the back of the headrest.
There is certainly a distinct difference in color between the old and new. In my opinion, the burgundy looks better than the original.
This is the seat after it has been re-upholstered. All of the corners are smooth and have no creases. A snug fit all around.
The back has a single coat of hand rubber polyurethane to protect the wood. The stand off screws are tight. The edges of the leather have also been glued. The back reads "Fritz-Cross EFF & C Chair No. 1 Patent Applied For The Fritz Cross Co. Manufacturers Saint Paul Minn.
Original headrest without leather. The stuffing looks like a mixure of burlap and wool. Very clean with no signs of decomposition.
The brackets have a tiny amount of play so that the receiving screws will easily line up. It was manufactured this way.
Original seat lasted an extremely long time and looked a lot better in the year 2001.
No damage other than the leather needs to be replaced.
The wood is not flat and has a contour to it to fit the human body. This made the upholstery job somewhat difficult.
The original stuffing is completely intact and in very good condition.
Original condition label.
The frame had no breaks or bends to it.
The seat swivels on a big fat ball bearing. It has been cleaned and lubricated.
Fritz Cross Leather and Steel Office Chair, Circa 1935
A collection of images from a newly refinished vintage office chair from Fritz Cross that closely resembles Domore chairs from the same time period. Has an adjustable backrest which by design has a mild spring loaded type action. It's good for the back.
The flash from the camera makes the chair look rougher than it really is. You can zoom in on the images if you mouse over them. During autoplay zoom is disabled.
Valued in the range of $225 - $325.
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