I have very mixed feelings about the stool.  If you are just looking at the overall impression, it is striking and beautiful.  For close up, though....The welds on the under side of the base show through on the top, leaving it dimpled.  One side of the chair is nicked up due to poor packaging.  I tend to be a detail person, so this bugs me.  The other thing is the smell.  The chemical smell is strong, and my initial brief handling of the back and seat as I put it together left my hands reeking of chemicals, too.  Two days later, my office still has a faint odor from that chair.  On a brighter note, the mechanism works well so far, and it is comfortable.  To be fair, my mom took one look at this stool and said, "Oooooooh beautiful!!"  She is not as picky as I am, though.