The Giorgetti rocking chair, Tilt indoors and Gea outside.

A Giorgetti rocking chair means one of two unlike seats. Giorgetti builds its furniture in Meda, Italy, and the catalogue we quote holds two pieces that rock. Tilt is an upholstered swivel armchair for the living room that tips back when you lean. The Gea rocking low lounge chair stands outside, on a frame of aluminum. If you arrived here looking for one specific model, send us its name and we will check it against the current Giorgetti range.

Tilt: a swivel chair that rocks.

m2atelier studio drew Tilt for Giorgetti in 2015. The family holds an armchair, a wing chair and a stool. See the Tilt collection. A mechanism inside the armchair and the wing chair lets the seat turn a full 360 degrees and rock, so you can face the fire, then the window, then lean back with a book.

Giorgetti builds the back frame from profiled steel and pads it with cold foamed polyurethane under a layer of fiber. The column and the base use bronzed metal, with inserts of Canaletto walnut in the column and a base in curved solid wood. The feet are dark brown PVC.

Giorgetti does not make the Tilt cover removable. You choose it once, in fabric or leather, in one color or two, with the outer side in leather and the inside in fabric or leather. That makes the choice of material more important than on a sofa with loose covers. Leather outside and fabric inside is the practical pairing: the back takes knocks and the seat stays soft to sit on.

Gea: rocking outdoors.

Chi Wing Lo designed the Gea outdoor family in 2017, and one of its pieces is a rocking low lounge chair. The frame is aluminum powder painted in a carob color, the same frame as the rest of the Gea family, so the rocker sits well next to a Gea sofa or sled base chairs.

Aluminum shrugs off rain, and Gea cushions use outdoor polyurethane inside waterproof covers from Giorgetti's Open-air fabrics. You can zip the covers off to wash them. On a covered porch the chair can stay out through the season. In a region with snow, bring the cushions in for the winter.

The rest of the family is on the Gea collection page. The Gea rocker is the smaller of the two chairs: 68 cm wide, 60 cm deep and 78 cm high. It fits a narrow balcony where the Tilt armchair would not.

Deciding which one.

You would buy these two chairs for different reasons.

• You want to read or watch a screen and turn toward whoever is talking. Tilt swivels and rocks, and the wing chair version adds a high back for your head.
• You want to sit outside in the evening. Gea belongs on the terrace, and the rest of the family gives you a table and a sun lounger in the same frame.
• You have a small corner. Gea takes less floor. Tilt needs about 96 by 73 cm plus room to turn.

Room for a chair that moves.

A rocking chair needs clear floor behind it. Leave about a foot behind the Tilt back when it tips, more if the chair sits on a rug with a thick pile. Keep it away from a floor lamp or a side table that the wing could catch as it turns.

Outside, set the Gea rocker on a flat, hard surface. Rockers walk a little on smooth stone. A rug from Giorgetti's outdoor range, or a terrace with a slight grip, holds it in place.

Care for a chair you use each day.

A chair that turns and rocks gets more use than a sofa corner, and the covering shows it first. Vacuum a fabric Tilt with a soft brush once a week and blot spills at once. Wipe leather with a dry cloth. Since the cover does not come off, ask us about the cleaning a given fabric allows before you order it. On Gea, zip the covers off at the end of summer and wash them as the label says.

Pairing Tilt with other pieces.

Tilt comes with a matching stool in poplar plywood and polyurethane, which turns the armchair into a reading chair with a footrest. In a living room, a single Tilt across from a sofa gives the room a second point of view. Two facing each other near a window make a conversation corner.

Price and lead time.

Giorgetti builds both chairs to order. The covering drives the price of Tilt more than anything else. Gea prices follow the fabric you choose from the Open-air range.

Tell us in the form below which chair you want, the room or terrace it goes to, and the fabric or leather you are drawn to. Our reply covers the options Giorgetti offers for that chair, the lead time and a price.