Our Factory

Our factory only uses traditional methods to manufacture our fine leather furniture and all of our chesterfield sofas and chairs are made in the UK.

We have a comprehensive quality assurance process from initial order through to final delivery.

All stages throughout the manufacturing process are supervised by time served tradesmen and women with specialised knowledge of the individual skills involved in creating fine furniture.

Manufacture

We go to great lengths to make sure that all of our furniture not only looks good today but will still look good in years to come. All of our leather furniture is hand finished to the highest standard. Each spring is hand inserted into the seats and backs of our furniture with each spring working independently of the others. This ensures that our furniture keeps its form.

Leather

Only the finest quality leathers are used in the making of our furniture. All leather pieces are covered exclusively in select top grain leather procured from the finest tanneries. Unlike most of our competitors we do not use PU, splits or Bi-cast leather. These are passed off as the genuine article but are not suited to traditional Chesterfield furniture.

Real leather is a natural product. It breathes, is warm and has individual characteristics which make each hide unique. Leather will always bear the marks of its natural origin and these characteristics can show as healed scars, growth marks, areas of differing fibre density and hair pore structure. These hallmarks in no way detract from the wearing qualities of the leather. They are signs discerning owners cherish when buying leather. With the passing of time and use our leather develops a patina which enhances its beauty.

Every chesterfield sofa or chair we produce is totally unique due to the leather we use.

Most of compeitiors use a type of leather know as a "split" this is in essence re-constituted leather given an artificial top coat. At the Original Chesterfield Company we guarantee to only use the best UK sourced first class leather.

Frames

All our frames are constructed from hardwood,we use either English beech or English ash,which has been carefully dried, milled and processed to remove defects, which could cause structural weakness. All corners and structural stress points are reinforced with corner blocks that are firmly glued in place.

The construction of our frames as shown in the diagram gives an indication of the traditional methods our factory still uses.

Fillings

Safety is as important as comfort when it comes to upholstery and all foams used in our furniture are the finest and fully fire safe CMHR (combustion modified high resilient) products meeting the appropriate British fire safety standard (BS 5852)Our foam can withstand a burning cigarette or even a butane flame.

All our foams are tested, after reconditioning, for flammability, density evenness, tear and tensile strength, compaction/height loss and durability.

All fibre used for cushion filling is top quality UK sourced material. For example, our seat fibres are designed specifically for the furniture industry and not scrap or reconstituted waste from the textile industry and is the best quality seating fibre available. Even though there are, as yet, no British standard tests for fibre products, all our fibres are thoroughly tested to perform to flammability regulations, pre and post test heights, periodic recovery gains and for weight and weight loss could cause structural weakness. All corners and structural stress points are reinforced with We can also supply any of our cushions with a feather or feather/fibre mix. Please contact our sales department for further details on pricing.

About our hand dyed leather

We are the only manufacturer in the UK that can offer a genuine hand dyed leather on our chesterfield sofas and chairs direct to the public.

Our process involves sourcing leather in its unfinished state known as leather "crust". We then apply a base colour coat by hand using a fully aniline natural dye. The sofa is then upholstered by our time served craftsmen.

Once the item has been upholstered it is then passed to our highly skilled finishers, this is a process that involves applying a second coat of colour then a deep coat of leather cream which nourishes and softens the leather.

When this coat has cured for 2 days we then apply a very rare palm leaf wax imported from the North East of Brazil, this is then buffed by hand until a deep patina is achieved. This painstaking process of making a chesterfield using the hand dyed leather takes up to 5 days.

Our hand dyed leather is the best leather available today in Britain. Ask us for a sample of this unique product.