Methodology
How We Review Luxury Furniture
Every score on Seat & Stone comes from the same written rubric, applied the same way to every brand — whether or not that brand has an affiliate program. This page is the rubric.
What Goes Into a Score
Materials & construction
30% of the scoreWhat the piece is actually made of, past the marketing name: timber species and joinery, foam densities and suspension type, leather grade and tanning, metal gauge and finish process. Brands that publish real specifications score better than brands that publish adjectives.
Value at the price
25% of the scoreWhether the premium survives comparison. We track list prices across the brand, its authorized retailers, and its closest competitors, and ask what the extra money buys in measurable terms — materials, warranty, customization — rather than in brand aura.
Service, delivery & warranty
25% of the scoreWarranty terms as written (length, what is excluded, who pays freight on claims), published lead times against real-world reports, white-glove execution, and how the company behaves on returns and damage claims according to owner accounts.
Design pedigree & longevity
20% of the scoreWhether the design will hold up — documented provenance for classics, resale behavior on the secondary market, and how well current production matches the quality the name was built on.
Where the Evidence Comes From
Our reviews are research-driven. For each brand we work from published product specifications and care documentation, warranty and returns policies as written, price tracking across the brand's own channels and authorized retailers, and a structured read of long-term owner reports — the durability complaints and service experiences that surface in owner communities years after the showroom visit. Where we have handled pieces in person, the review says so specifically; we do not claim hands-on testing we have not done.
What We Will Not Do
- Accept payment, product, or affiliate terms in exchange for a placement, a score, or a ranking position.
- Rank a brand higher because it converts better. Rankings are set before monetization is considered.
- Publish a claim we cannot source. If a specification is unverifiable, we say so rather than fill the gap.
- Let a review go stale silently — every review carries its last-updated date, visible at the top.
Corrections
If we got a specification, price, or policy wrong, tell us via the contact page and we will verify and correct it. Reader corrections make the reviews better and we credit them where wanted.