The 10 Best Leather Armchairs
Special Honors
Langston Leather Chair. This deep-seated, rolled arm, tailored chair has premium down stuffing in the seat, with a heavily sprung suspension and reinforced hardwood frame. It is American-made using premium grade leather that is selected from some of the country's top tanneries, and as such is notably expensive. It is a custom-made armchair that is built to order and delivery time can take up to two months. leathergroups.com
Editor's Notes
August 07, 2020:
Gone are the days when leather armchairs mostly resembled the stiff, straight-backed, clawfoot designs that adorned the social clubs, studies, and reception halls of yesteryear. The postmodern era ushered in a new wave of furniture design and mid-century armchairs often featured geometric lines, stainless steel and hardwood construction, and had lower and wider profiles. These have since developed further and nowadays, function is just as great a priority as form, hence we are seeing more oversized, down-filled, and heavily-sprung examples in our living spaces.
When choosing an armchair, one of the most important considerations is the quality of the material. The models in this ranking are covered in one of three types of leather, namely bonded, genuine, and top-grain, in order of quality from low to high. The classically-styled Christopher Knight Greggory is covered with bonded leather, which is made by mixing small pieces of leather with a polyurethane binder, and is less durable than its more expensive counterparts.
The overstuffed Mempra Design Delta Collection, and the mid-century Rivet Sloane Modern, Modway Modern Accent, and Modway Harness, are made with genuine leather, which is real leather that is layered, glued, and processed to give it pigment. This achieves a nice, even tone with fewer blemishes, but is still lower in quality than top grain leather.
The models with top grain leather in this ranking include the reclining BarcaLounger Longhorn II, and the modern Abbyson Living, and Rivet Andrews Contemporary. These have the thickest, most durable and highest quality coverings that will last and look better for longer, and this is reflected in their significantly higher prices. With that said, whatever your preferred price range, and whether you are looking for traditional, mid-century, or contemporary styling, there are plenty of options available for purchase, and this is reflected in our choices.