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Questions about Vi Spring divan base

John asked
16th May 2013

Hello Having looked at your website from pretty well most sides and taken on board the sense it all makes, I am intrigued by only one thing I have sampled both Harrison beds (under their John Lewis branding) and the John Lewis branded Vi-Spring (a brand I supposed was one of the very best generally available) and while quite liking the box topped JL bed (which actually may even have been a Hypnos) and definitely being disappointed by the roll off on the Vi-Spring (as commented on on your own site) I am curious as to the relative merits of the divan bases as offered by Vi-Spring It seems as you go up the range their divan bases become more and more sophisticated, yet you don’t actually sleep on them!

Therefore at what point does having effectively the same divan topping/filling (never mind springs) as the mattress become irrelevant – after all if the mattress is reversible how much actual effect does all that divan topping have on the mattress – does it become counter-productive?

Clearly that is a significant part of the overall cost of the Vi-Spring divan range I am most interested in your thoughts as I’m seriously contemplating your Artisan Bespoke 002 (Double) which seems to have a superb spec at a highly competitive price, but although you compare (understandably given the specifications) the Artisan mattress to the Vi-Spring Tiara the bases are not comparable I am most interested in your thoughts on this – of course, the alternative is a bedstead/frame, which of course removes the relevancy of the divan base but might mean for me, just under 13 stone at 5 foot 10 ½ inches, opting for a softer rather than medium firmness to compensate for slats?

It is for ‘sole occupancy’ I look forward to hearing from you in due course – my mobile is *** in case you wanted to discuss any part of the above .

1 Answer
Lee Staff
answered 11 years ago

Hi John.

This is a very interesting observation and I do not want to be disingenuous by responding with a simplistic reply.

You are right to observe that as you go up the Vi Spring range the quality of their sprung edged divan bases increase in specification.

There are five core models:

DELUXE DIVAN: 600 pocketed springs on a screwed and glued solid timber frame.

The divan frame is covered with insulating wadding, and the ticking case is calico lined for added protection.

1,200gsm natural coir pad, overlaid with 1,200gsm blended British fleece wool and cotton.

PRESTIGE DIVAN: 950 pocketed springs on a screwed and glued solid timber frame.

The divan frame is covered with insulating wadding, and the ticking case is calico lined for added protection.

1,200gsm natural coir pad, overlaid with 1,200gsm blended British fleece wool and cotton.

SOVEREIGN DIVAN: 1,344 hand-nested calico pocketed springs on a screwed and glued solid timber frame.

The divan frame is covered with insulating wadding, and the ticking case is calico lined for added protection.

1,200gsm natural coir pad overlaid with 1,200gsm of blended British fleece wool and cotton.

WOOL SOVEREIGN DIVAN: 1,344* hand-nested calico pocketed springs on screwed and glued solid timber frame.

The divan frame is covered with insulating wadding, and the ticking case is calico lined for added protection.

Two layers of 250gsm heavily needled British fleece wool, overlaid with 600gsm softly needled British fleece wool.

VICEROY DIVAN: The divan is constructed with two layers of springs.

The upper layer consists of 1,410 hand-nested calico-pocketed springs.

600 heavy-duty calico pocketed springs comprise the lower layer.

The spring combination is mounted on a screwed and glued solid timber frame.

The divan frame is covered with insulating wadding, and the ticking case is calico lined for added protection.

1,200gsm horsehair overlaid with 1,200gsm blended British fleece wool and cotton.

Obviously, as the range progresses, the quality of the upholstery increases.

From Coir and Wool / Cotton in The Deluxe to Horsehair and Wool / Cotton in The Viceroy. Also, as the range progresses the pocket spring count increases. From 600 in The Deluxe to 1400 in The Viceroy. So pretty much they are the only differentiating factors.

The actual combined upholstery weight throughout the range is 2400 gsm which is quite an impressive amount – most mattresses do not have this weight of upholstery!

The exception is The Wool Sovereign Divan at just 1100 gsm (this is only partnered with the Shetland Superb).

I must admit Vi Spring Divan bases are amongst the best you can get – well tailored and well manufactured – but obviously they come in at a price.

As an example the Vi Spring Prestige Double Divan base retails at £950.00 (No Storage: John Lewis: May 2013) To answer the main point of your question, a sprung edged divan base is the absolute best kind of support for a pocket sprung mattress giving the perfect suspension for the mattress and user.

However, for some people (myself included) Divan bases lack an elegance of design and so the compromise would be a stylish bedframe – but these are severely lacking in any kind of suspension qualities.

Will you notice the difference? Yes!

Your question asking at what point does the base become counter-productive is of course generalised. The top of range Viceroy is partnered with mattresses that retail above the ten thousand mark and so I would not expect the consumer purchasing this level of mattress to be concerned about the few hundred pounds difference for the base.

The bases in our range are certainly not comparable – and we make no representation at all to this.

However, I would be very surprised if anyone could tell the difference in a blind test between our Artisan Pocket Sprung base and the top of range Viceroy with an identical mattress being used.

 

I must draw upon a difference in manufacture to the roll off effect you experienced with the Vi Spring bases.

Vi Spring do not use the firm edge / true edge build of ours / and Harrisons / Spink and Edgar etc.

The spring edging is not contained within a timber surround but cushioned on top of the base.

This means that as you sit on the edge the mattress (which is also not contained by rod edging) will compress significantly more on a cushion top spring edging than on the contained unit.

There is no right or wrong thesis on this type of manufacture – each to his own as it were.

I suppose the thinking behind the cushion top build is that the level of tension is the same right across the mattress and as this is the main purpose of the bed – not for sitting on the edge – the justification is theoretically correct.

Our thoughts are that a firm edge base with inserted pocket springs is a more lifestyle suited type of build – people do sit on the edge of the bed for whatever reason and we think measures should be taken to address this.

The same tension across the mattress – edge to edge – is an extremely small compromise.

We have been making mattress pads to sit on slatted bedframes to replicate the suspension of a sprung edged base which would address the inherent problem of arched slats and firm support.

The prototypes we have had made have come in at about 4-5 inches in height.

I have trialled them on my bedframe and concluded that they do work – but – the increase in height to the mattress absolutely ruined the overall look of the bed.

We will, of course, try to find a manufacturer who can develop a 2-3 inch unit but this will not be in the short term.

I hope this has answered your questions John.

This was a very interesting comment and a pleasure to respond to.

Obviously, there is not a clear cut answer and if you have any response to my reply please feel free to post further.

John and Ryan.

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