Navailles Lead Ernest 24-hour office chair

An ode to the Lead Ernest

Night shift included

Most office chairs pack their bags when you do. Around half past five, lights out, see you tomorrow. The Lead Ernest doesn't. Your colleague from the evening shift sits down, adjusts the armrests, and the chair simply starts again. And the night shift after that too. Navailles builds it for three shifts at once, with materials that can handle that pace.

Why the Lead Ernest?

Built for environments that never stop

The Navailles Lead Ernest is a 24-hour office chair for workplaces with intensive use: control rooms, security posts, dispatching, healthcare. Places where the chair is occupied not eight but twenty-four hours a day, by changing users. Navailles developed the Lead Ernest with knowledge from the aviation and automotive sectors and translated that into materials that are structurally resistant to constant load.

Foam that keeps doing its job

The seat and backrest of the Lead Ernest are filled with high-resilience foam of 65 kg/m³, 50 and 45 mm thick respectively. For comparison: an average office chair has foam of 30 to 45 kg/m³. The denser the foam, the better it retains its shape under daily load. Lower density foam sags after a few years and loses its resilience, precisely when comfort problems first become visible. The frames of the seat and back are constructed from multi-curved beech wood, which keeps the construction structurally stable. This ensures the Lead Ernest maintains its comfort, even when different people sit on it day in, day out.

Instructions for use

Four adjustment points, quickly adjustable

The Lead Ernest has four adjustment points that each user can set themselves. The 4D armrests adjust in height (80 mm, 8 positions), width (2 x 22.5 mm), depth (50 mm) and rotation (plus or minus 30 degrees), via the button on the front of the armrest frame. The SCHUKRA lumbar support is adjusted via a button on the side of the seat: slide it forwards or backwards to suit your lower back. The headrest can be moved 40 mm up or down.

Setting the synchronous mechanism

The Lead Ernest has a dynamic synchronous mechanism: back and seat move together in a fixed ratio. You lock the desired tilt via the side lever in one of the 12 available positions. Adjust the spring-back pressure via the knob, so that the chair yields to your weight and not that of the previous user. You adjust the seat height via the lever on the underside of the seat.

Ergonomic benefits

What the SCHUKRA lumbar support does

SCHUKRA is a system for adjustable lumbar support that originated in the aviation and automotive sectors. The support works mechanically: you adjust the depth via a button on the side of the seat. Slide it forwards for more support in the lower back, backwards if you want to feel less support. This way, every user of the Lead Ernest can adjust the lumbar support to their own back in a few seconds, without tools.

When sitting for long periods, a well-adjusted lumbar support can help reduce fatigue in the lower back: the natural curve of the spine is better maintained and the back muscles have to make fewer adjustments. You notice this difference most during shifts of six hours or longer.

The combination of adjustable lumbar support, headrest and synchronous mechanism ensures that the Lead Ernest adapts to the user instead of the other way around. Those who sit in front of a screen for a long time will notice this most in their back: the SCHUKRA support keeps the lower back in the correct position and the synchronous mechanism absorbs small movements, so that the back does not become fatigued from sitting still.

The seat depth of the Lead Ernest is adjustable over 50 mm. This is practical for users with shorter or longer thighs: the pressure on the back of the thighs remains low if the seat depth is set correctly. In a changing user group, such as in shift work, this is a point that is often overlooked, but which makes a big difference during a long shift.

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Made in France, with an eye for the long term

The Lead Ernest comes from the Navailles factory in Hagetmau, in the Landes region of southern France, where the company has been making chairs since 1966. Navailles works with a local supplier network and is certified via ISO 14001 for environmental management and ISO 50001 for energy management. Spare parts are available on request, even for chairs that have been in use for years. The warranty on the Lead Ernest is 8 years. The upholstery (Radio 8033) has been tested to 80,000 Martindale, the benchmark for textile abrasion resistance. The minimum threshold for intensive office use is typically 40,000. This higher number means that the fabric retains its colour and structure longer with daily changes of users.

The Lead Ernest is independently certified by three bodies. NF EN 1335-1 is the European standard for office chairs: an external test lab tests the chair for ergonomic dimensions, stability and structural safety. OEC certification (Office Excellence Certifié) goes a step further — through periodic factory audits, it is checked whether every chair that rolls off the production line is demonstrably identical to the tested specimen, including health and environmental criteria. The NF Environnement label assesses the chair over its entire life cycle: from raw material and production to use and recycling. TÜV certification is issued by the independent German inspection body TÜV, which also inspects car engines and lifts. As a company, Navailles additionally holds ISO 9001 certification, which means that their production process is periodically audited externally for quality.

Pros and cons

•  Specifically developed for shift work and 24-hour use
•  4D armrests quickly adjustable per user
•  High-resilience foam of 65 kg/m³ retains its shape
•  SCHUKRA lumbar support adjustable without tools
•  Certified NF EN 1335-1, OEC and NF Environnement
•  8-year warranty
•  Less ideal if you are looking for a lightweight chair (29 kg)
•  Less ideal for occasional use, as the investment is relatively high

Brief specifications

In short: the Lead Ernest is a 24-hour office chair for intensive use and shift work. Important: high-resilience foam of 65 kg/m³, 4D armrests, SCHUKRA lumbar support.

Key figures: seat height 420-540 mm, seat depth 425-475 mm, load capacity 135 kg, chair weight 29 kg, warranty 8 years.

How happy will my body be with this?

Product features

•  24-hour office chair for intensive use and shift work
•  4D armrests adjustable in height, width, depth and rotation
•  SCHUKRA lumbar support, depth adjustable via side knob
•  Height-adjustable headrest, 40 mm travel
•  Dynamic synchronous mechanism, lockable in 12 positions
•  Seat depth adjustable over 50 mm
•  High-resilience foam, density 65 kg/m³
•  Upholstery Radio 8033 black, 100% polyester FR, 80,000 Martindale
•  Polished aluminium 5-star base
•  Braked castors Ø65 mm for soft floors
•  Maximum load 135 kg
•  Certified NF EN 1335-1, OEC, TUV, NF Environnement
•  ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 50001 certified company
•  Made in France by Navailles, since 1966
•  8-year warranty

What's in the box?

•  1 x Lead Ernest office chair (3 components)
•  1 x Assembly and user manual

Downloads

Frequently asked questions