Chrome & The Barcelona Chair

Polished Stainless steel and Chrome plating are the two most common finishes for the Barcelona Chair. Choosing between the two is 18ptly an aesthetic decision - albeit a subtle one.

The difference between polished stainless steel and chrome plating is clear to some and entirely unfathomable to others.

To describe the visual difference in words requires some poetic license, so on an entirely subjective note: The chrome plated finish looks a little more silken, less like looking into a limpid pool of water and more like a silver syrup.

If you need a more empirical basis to form a judgement between the two - well its difficult to formulate one.

Technical Details:

Chrome plating uses electrolytic deposition of chromium. The most common form of chrome plating is the thin, decorative finish called - Bright Chrome, which is typically a 10 micrometer layer over an underlying polished nickel plate. It imparts a highly reflective finish to items such as metal furniture frames and automotive trim. Thicker deposits, over 10 micrometers and up to 1000 micrometer, are called - hard chrome, industrial or engineered chrome - and are used in industrial equipment to reduce friction and wear and to restore the dimensions of equipment that has experienced wear.

The plating process usually consists of the following steps:

  • Degreasing to remove heavy soiling.
  • Manual cleaning to remove all residual traces of dirt and surface impurities.
  • Component placed on a jig or rack.
  • Various pretreatments depending on what is being chromed and what is being used in the chrome solution.
  • Placed into the chrome plating vat and allowed to warm to solution temperature.
  • Plating current applied and component is left for the required time to attain desired thickness.

Barcelona Chair Quality requirements

In general and for the Barcelona Chair in particular, quality control requires that the deposit of chrome plate be uniform in thickness on all surfaces, and should be smooth, consistent and free from pattern or texture, pin holes, pits, nodules, and other defects

What metal to plate:

The chrome plated Barcelona Chair frame is often made of a 200 series stainless steel. 200 series stainless steel is equivalent (for these purposes) to 300 series stainless steel in terms of strength, hardness, weldability etc - but left un plated would be more susceptible to corrosion, rust or oxidation. This should in no way be regarded as cause for concern, because once plated the steel will be protected and the chrome itself does not rust. (This of course assumes that the plating is thick enough, and well applied - which most manufacturers have no difficulty with ,