Born of necessity and built to last, Emeco’s iconic design stands up to war, weather and the test of time.
Icons are not made overnight; they are built from great ideas, obsessive design, decades of dedication and a little dumb luck. The Emeco Navy Chair ticks all the boxes.
The unassuming design was not the brainchild of a design starlet or the machinations of a Pritzker winner. The Navy Chair was simply the result of the most basic of design challenges: make something to meet a need. The need was, as the name implies, one of a military nature.
A Chair Born for the U.S. Navy
Emeco was founded as the Electrical Machine and Equipment Company in Hanover, Pennsylvania, in 1940. Their big break came in 1944 in the form of a contract to design and manufacture a chair for the US Navy. This was a chair that needed to stand up to the salt air and rough seas (not to mention sailors) that the Navy had to endure during WWII. It had to be lightweight, corrosion-resistant and torpedo-proof.
The Navy Chair eventually outfitted the US Navy’s best ships and submarines, including the first nuclear sub, the USS Nautilus.
Therein lay the challenge. How do you take a factory of steelworkers and create a practical, functional and durable object with limited resources for the ultimate client? Thus was born the Emeco 1006, or as it is more commonly known, the Navy Chair. The design is simple, sturdy and comfortable. The original included eye bolts on the feet to ensure that they would stay in place through rough seas and even rougher combat.
How the Navy Chair Is Made
Photo courtesy of Emeco.
As for the material, there was a novel solution as well. During the war, traditional materials like steel were sparse, but there was a surplus of salvaged aluminum, so a common-sense decision was made to use it. To this day, every Navy Chair is made from recycled aluminum. Emeco takes this soft, malleable metal and—through a 77-step process that includes a balmy 960-degree saltwater bath and baking in a custom oven—transforms it into a finished chair that is three times stronger than steel.
But it’s not just a novel process or a clever design that makes the Navy Chair what it is. The chair is literally made by hand. The assembly, treatment and triple polishing (clocking in at eight hours of labor all on its own) are all part of what makes the Navy Chair an item from another time, and something designed for the future.
The ethos behind the brand is simple: Make something that will last and will not need to be replaced, even after being thrown out of a multistory office window. While this is highly idealistic and displays a level of design morals that few exercise, it can have a downside in the business world: Repeat traffic can be slim when your product never needs to be replaced.
Why the Emeco Navy Chair Is So Expensive
From Battleships to Design Icons
By the ’90s, Emeco was facing trouble. When Gregg Buchbinder took the helm, he knew this, but he also saw orders coming in from prominent names in the design world, including a then fresh-faced Philippe Starck. Seeing the potential for growth and development, Buchbinder took the leap, fostering relationships with designers and brands, and thrust the Navy Chair into homes, hotels and restaurants—spaces far outside the institutional and military realms they once inhabited.
The Navy Chair Family: Collaborations and Variations
The Navy Chair commands its price through an uncompromising commitment to craft. Each chair undergoes a 77-step hand process at Emeco’s Pennsylvania factory, including eight hours of triple polishing alone. The material—recycled aluminum transformed into a frame three times stronger than steel—requires specialized treatment: a 960-degree saltwater bath and custom oven baking. This is not mass production; it is artisanship with industrial strength. The result is a chair engineered to never need replacing, a design philosophy that prioritizes lasting value over disposability. The authentic 1006 side chair starts around $815 at Lumens.com, reflecting the labor, material integrity, and generational durability built into every seat.
An Icon That Endures
The 1006, the original Navy Chair, has shaped generations of those who sat on them, and inspired some of the greatest names in modern design. Unassuming and practical, solid and strong, the Navy Chair can truly be called an icon of our time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are Emeco Navy chairs so expensive?
The price reflects an intensive 77-step hand process, eight hours of triple polishing, and materials transformed from recycled aluminum into a frame three times stronger than steel. Every chair is made by hand in the USA and engineered for a lifetime of use, prioritizing enduring craftsmanship over mass production.
How much does an Emeco Navy chair cost?
The authentic 1006 side chair starts around $815 at Lumens.com. Variations such as arm chairs, counter stools, and bar stools, as well as wood-seated and upholstered versions, run higher depending on configuration and finish.
What is the Emeco Navy chair made of?
The original Navy Chair is made from recycled aluminum, heat-treated and hand-finished to achieve strength three times that of steel. The 111 Navy Chair variation, created in collaboration with Coca-Cola, is made from exactly 111 recycled PET bottles.
