REVIEW | ORBIT ARM CHAIR
Made in Italy and sold by various retailers the Orbit Arm Chair can give you a sleek look for a pretty reasonable price (currently $129.00 USD via CB2). It may not be the absolute highest quality, and I’m not in love with the way the seat sits on and attaches to the base, but for the price you can’t be overly picky on some of the details. I have specified these chairs in several interiors and we also have one in our home. With three small but energetic young girls running the show, our home can be a rigorous testing ground for any chair. So far, the Orbit has withstood the abuse.
While being lightweight enough for the younger ones to move it around, the Orbit has also proven fairly sturdy. I say fairly sturdy because in some commercial uses I have seen the connections between the seat and base fail (I mean literally break off), but those incidents happened in extremely high traffic areas known to not be friendly with seating. The only actual problem I experienced firsthand was with the assembly of the chair to the base. The four screws you are provided with are a tight fit into the drilled holes in the chair base, so you’ll want to either have a drill or impact driver handy, or pre-screw the screws before assembly. Also, be careful not to over tighten the screws or you risk cracking the plastic. Apart from that the chair has performed very well for residential use. It’s light, but won’t fall over and it is easy to wipe down. The plastic is very durable, but it is plastic so you can scratch it. For the price though, I can’t say I was disappointed.
Pros: Comfortable, lightweight, easy to clean, no corners or sharp edges and a flexible plastic shell make it gentle on the younger ones who have a tendency to run in to things, gives a sleek sculptural look at a reasonable price
Cons: Its plastic so you can scratch it, the “arms” of the arm chair aren’t so no rest for weary elbows, even though the shape is what makes the chair interesting it also prevents it from being pushed in all the way, assembly can be a bit of a pain without the right tools, does alright for light commercial use but may not hold up in higher traffic areas.
I kinda thought the base didn’t quite match the seat part too.. Looks almost like an after thought. Great review though, thanks!