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This lounge suite sold within 3 days of being listed before we set a price for it. We now have 3 Rufenacht swivel chairs and one footstool in LONG-TERM storage (and a Rufenacht dining suite too). Enquire if you’re interested- go to our CONTACT page.

LOCATION– in our Morayfield depot, NORTH BRISBANE but this suite can be freighted Australia-wide for a reasonable additional cost. Approx $270 to get 2 of these swivel chairs to Sydney.

Let us know if you have interest in buying OR SELLING Rufenacht furniture. For buying enquiries please call / SMS us using the number in the CONTACT section of our Home page- for selling enquiries SMS this number ONLY please. Delivery Australia-wide can be arranged by one of our friendly team.

 

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Description

This lounge suite sold within 3 days of being listed before a price was set for it. It sold for much more than our OFFERS OVER price. We now have 3 Rufenacht swivel chairs and one footstool in LONG-TERM storage (and a Rufenacht dining suite too). Enquire if you’re interested- go to our CONTACT page. Or visit NEWLY LISTED.

LOCATION– in our Morayfield depot, BRISBANE NORTHSIDE but this suite can be freighted Australia-wide for a reasonable additional cost. Approx $270 to get 2 of these swivel chairs to Sydney.

Provenance and Background Info

(Written in 2022 by a regular iNVISeDGE seller in Adelaide in conjunction with Michael Grealy)

This suite is from the late 1970’s and believe me- it is a rare thing! Rufenacht furniture was expensive in its day- the lounge suites in particular were made in very small numbers, there’s not much of it around.

Michael has spoken to many people who have had very strong interest in Rufenacht swivel lounge chairs (our last pair of chairs in this design sold before a listing was even done for it and another pair was sold to an interior designer in Canada and freighted internationally). All iNVISeDGE regular sellers (in Adelaide where this furniture was made and Australia-wide) have been keen to find more Rufenacht furniture- this is the third Rufenacht lounge suite iNVISeDGE has got in almost 3 years! People keep asking for Rufenacht furniture- some people will not settle on a Tessa T21 swivel or Norwegian Falcon chair (as examples). Rufenacht furniture has it all. These single seaters swivel too- Norwegian Falcon chairs don’t. Above everything people want the comfort- the comfort of Rufenacht’s designs is just sublime! Even the comfort of these sofas is amazing because they hold you in perfect seating position plus they have a high back that supports your neck, shoulders and for most people some of their head too.

Some 18 years ago, Michael from iNVISeDGE ‘discovered’ Joe Rufenacht’s stunning furniture, and instantly fell in love with the minimalist curves and exceptional quality. Today, it’s safe to say that iNVISeDGE is the leading source for Rufenacht furniture worldwide. Rufenacht’s JR Furniture went out of business almost 20 years ago now (written, 2022)- you have to buy it 2nd-hand; there’s no other way to get it these days.

Rufenacht started in the mid-1970’s and by 1980 he’d pocketed more design awards than any other furniture maker in Australia. The swivel chairs in this design won the prestigious Australian Design Award back in 1978. Joe Rufenacht told ABC in 2006 that it took him 40 different prototypes to get one of his chair designs right- the lounge designs probably took the same but most likely more. His designs tick EVERY box- a resounding tick for comfort, design, quality and investment-appeal. JR furniture (Rufenacht’s company) closed its doors in 2006 unable to compete with cheap overseas imports any longer. The 30-year history of this Australian business has etched a permanent place in Australian furniture design and production history.

This Rufenacht suite is an obvious furniture investment. The design looks very similar to the coveted Norwegian Falcon chair by Sigurd Resell. Falcon chairs in Australia have risen in value from about $1100 back in 2002 to around $3000 EACH in 2021- not a bad earner for something you also get to sit in and enjoy in the meantime! In recent years (since COVID lockdowns) Rufenacht pieces have become almost impossible to get and by late 2021 they became even more sought-after than the ever-popular T21 swivel chair by Tessa- no-one seems prepared to give their Rufenacht items up so prices keep rising (which hasn’t surprised any of us). This only adds to the investment appeal. Michael was supposed to get another pair of the swivel chairs in this design under consignment last year. After the owners searched high and wide for new furniture in the shops they cancelled their appointment with Michael and decided to keep them. In their words, “the new chairs in the shops don’t compare- even the ones triple in price. We’re going to keep our chairs and just live with the black colour, even though we were ready for something in a light colour.”

Providing you use these pieces with some sense, Rufenacht’s furniture will last a lifetime (but most likely many lifetimes). The quality of this furniture EXCEEDS the Falcon chair (easily) because of the steel sub-structure (see the photos of the undersides). Each timber piece is supported by steel for extra durability. With the base section, the timber is clad onto steel. The AUSTRALIAN leather, which is quality vintage HOWE leather (made in the early-1980’s) is at least as good as any leather ever made in Australia and internationally. This is FULL-GRAIN leather, about 40 years old and in exceptional condition (because it’s some of the best quality leather you can buy). This suite is set to be passed onto yet another generation after this one- (if you look after it with any sense)- a symbol that when something is done well, it will live on.

2208 and 2205

The full suite is in amazing condition for furniture that's 40+ years old. Solid and sturdy with NO structural issues to report at all, NO movement in any joint area, NO cracks or splits in the timber and NO repairs. Cosmetically the timber may have fading of colour in some areas plus there's one timber piece with various minor marks on it (not really noticeable as it's under one of the chairs and across the floor). The vendor has said he's got a professional timber restorer engaged to restore the surface condition of those timber pieces so the timber will be in better condition than what's shown in our photos. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ This FULL-GRAIN leather is one of the best QUALITY furniture coverings you'll find. It's durable and if cleaned and nourished after every few months of use (or after the air-conditioner has been used for a few hours) it will continue to last for the long-haul. The leather has been recently cleaned and nourished so it's soft, supple and ready for the next custodian to use and enjoy. The leather has NO holes, NO splits, NO cracks into the leather, NO noticeable scratches, NO signs of use that are noticed. The leather across the front of the 3-seater sofa has faded in colour, I'd say from the sun hitting it over a period of time. The leather was kept well-nourished by the previous owners so no damage has resulted from this exposure to the sun, just discolouration across that front edge. The seats are slanted back for comfort so the rest of the seat leather is in shadow so it's just across the front and this variation in colour is hard to notice especially in lower light (inside a home away from windows). If you want perfect colour across the front this is certainly possible by engaging a leather technician. (I'd say it would cost about $300 to get this area re-sprayed.) I like it as it is- if it was my suite I would leave it as is. It's not unsightly and adds to the story of this vintage suite. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The canvas backs of each swivel chair is a different colour. (One is faded brown- the other is white.) The vendor's stepmother does not remember one of the chairs being re-done. It looks like it was done by Joe Rufenacht's workshop (I've seen this white canvas used on other Rufenacht lounge suites). It's possible this was how the suite was when it left the workshop. That canvas back has been done meticulously (I believe by the Rufenacht workshop). ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Measurements. 3-SEATER SOFA. Across- 180cm. Depth- 70cm. Total height- 97cm. Seat height- cm. Depth of seat- cm. SWIVEL CHAIRS. Across-66cm. Depth- 70cm. Height- 97cm. FOOTSTOOL. 53cm X 53cm with a height of 33cm. COFFEE TABLE. 100cm X 72cm with a height of 38cm. FOR FREIGHT- 1.1cbm + 0.425cbm + 0.425cbm = 1.95cbm (for the 3-seater sofa and the pair of swivel chairs only). Read our 1200+ feedback comments on ebay (ALL for vintage furniture and decor SALES) to be assured that we describe all our items the best we can.
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