My problem is that I weigh 125kg/275lbs and am 2cm shy of 2m (mesomorph territory). I break an office chair about once every two years - they are simply not built to cope with my weight. Thus the idea of shelling out $1k for a chair scares me.

That being said, at my last work there was a significant remodeling of the office space by a designer. As in, the techboys roll their eyes type designer. She was there to customise our area, as long as we fitted into the grand design. So we had these chairs that fit into the grand design. Attractive chairs. But terrible for sitting in, and the seat pan was way too low. I cited my height and kept my old chair. "But it doesn't fit in with the design!" was followed with "We'll get you cushions!" (which were never seen...). Over time, I noticed other staff were taking my lead and going with chairs that worked for them rather than chairs that looked good. Long story short, I like your 'all chairs must be black' idea, it's far better than making all chairs the same.