David Pinke

I recently moved to a brand new place and finally had the interest in getting some nice pieces for my place. My family had an Eames Lounge chair so I initially wanted that, but on a trip to Knoll I fell in love with the Saarinen Womb chair.

Unlike other types of items, I wanted a knockoff chair to see if I liked it enough to warrant the real thing one day. So I dove into a month of reading weird forums about the various options, sketchy dealers, unrated ebay sellers and second hand ripoffs.

I even went to a local showroom for a place that is popular on the web called Manhattan Home Design and really didn't like their demeanor and the quality didn't feel right to me.

The only seller who came away mostly unscathed was Rove concepts. Everyone said that they weren't importing the same ones from china everyone else was (all the sub $1000 ones on ebay) , and for a little more money, they had lots more options, reviews and people saying it was quality.

I'll admit, I had a lot of reservations about every step of the process. I am impatient, and even though they had the chair I bought in stock (as opposed to the longer time frame of custom made) I was still nervous. From ordering it took about 4 days to leave the warehouse in Washington State, and about a week later arrived at my local delivery company who was excellent.

Although they are based in Canada, if you are in the US, the shipping comes from a US warehouse so you don't have to deal with customs or anything. Once it gets to your area, they give you the number of a local delivery service. The tracking on the site was great and I called them several times to confirm things and they were always happy to help and helpful. 

I didn't pay the extra $150 for 'white glove' delivery, which they say means removing all packaging and putting it in your home. Instead I slipped the delivery guys some cash and they did the same thing much cheaper. Really nice guys.

So what's it like?

The chair is fully assembled and the legs have screw in feet so you can adjust them to sit well on your floor. They also have a ball swivel and the chair sits very solidly, I'm in it now wiggling with no ability to move it in any direction.

I went and sat in an authentic Knoll Womb chair and really liked the fact that the entire shell is padded as well as covered in cloth. Same thing on the Rove chair, really thick but firm padding that lets you throw your legs over the armrest.

In addition, the chair feels well weighted, and is clearly made very well. All seams are tight and even, the fabric has no blemishes or issues, and the 'ruby cashmere' is very soft and feels sturdy. Its a beautiful deep red that really compliments my wood floors and grey couch.

When I tried the womb chair at Manhattan Home Design, the fabric was itchy and rough, and I was told it would wear out unless I used spray on it. Rove uses a much nicer fabric and the chair generally feels much more substantial and identical to the real thing.

I feel like it is almost too good to be true, I was expecting a little something to be wrong, and Rove really came through for me. At $1600 after shipping and tax, I can honestly say I got exactly what I paid for, and am enjoying the chair already immensely. The chair matches the pictures on their site exactly, which are nearly identical to the real thing as well.

I am writing this review because there are almost no reviews of the Rove womb chair, only the Eames lounge. I wish I had it when I was looking, so hopefully it helps you out!