** Quintessential Crockett & Jones Thread ** - Page 54

Originally Posted by ap10046 

Here they are : more "orange-y" in real life. I take really bad pictures..
.
If I could get them to look like the ones in the picture, I would be ecstatic!!
Cheers all!

Originally Posted by Gdot 

Shape of course cannot be changed. But I presume you have them on trees so they hold their shape as well as possible?
If you wish to darken them bear in mind it is a simple process but will take a few hours of rubbing/buffing to get there. I suggest that you will need at least two colors of cream shoe polish. The first in a medium brown just a few shades darker than they are now, and the second in a dark brown. If you try to go too dark at first you are likely to get 'blotchy' results and not blotchy in a good way. The boots look a little dry to me and if they are they will absorb the cream in an inconsistent way so you need to start with a color that is not too drastically different than what is there now. Test each polish color on an inconspicuos location before applying overall.
I would start with two coats of medium brown cream polish - quickly apply it to the entire boot and then go back over it rubbing in small circular motions quite firmly until the shine comes up. The idea is to create friction, which creates heat, which softens the polish. This combined with pressure from your firm rubbing will drive the pigment and conditioner deeper into the leather. You will probably find that it takes 10-15 minutes per boot per coat to get the shine to come up with this method - that is a good thing - rub rub rub and drive the color in deeply.
After two coats if they appear to be fairly even and you want darker still then move on to the same process with the dark brown.
This will be four coats of cream polish and will have taken you most of an evening if you applied enough rubbing to the process. Take a photo and send for further instruction. Or, if at any point you are concerned with what is happening take a photo and post for more instruction. While you are purchasing the cream polish I suggest you might also pick up some dark or navy blue as well - as you might need it to take out some of the orange color - if so this will need to happen after you already have the browns in place - we won't know until you get that far.
It's a really easy process - just don't try to go too dark too fast.

Originally Posted by ap10046 

Old Post..I know...but why do my Cottesmores look nothing like No. 1 in the bottom picture? These are GORGEOUS!!
Also are No. 3, Grenson Smiths?

Originally Posted by Eustace 

Cross-post.
Westfield from Barneys:

Originally Posted by Gdot 

Great! No blotchiness is a good sign. It generally means that the leather has absorbed the conditioner evenly.

If you have a cream polish that is just a couple of shades darker brown than the boots you can start. I recommend doing two coats. Rub it in with vigor as previously mentioned - I cannot overstate how important this is. The professionals use a buffing wheel which really heats up the wax and drives the pigments and oils into the leather - to mimic this by hand takes a good bit of effort. Brush lightly between coats. If that goes on without blotchiness you can do two more coats of regular brown cream polish.

After that I'd stop, and do nothing more than brush them for a few wearings to see how it all settles in. You can easly get too much wax which will lead to cracks in the color. Hopefully by this point they will be quite a bit less bright anyway.

Again, if at any point you are uncomfortable stop, take a photo, and post.

To offer you some inspiration here's some not so great photos of a finish I recently created on a pair of C&J Drummonds.

Originally Posted by Tarmac 


Mine are a makeup for Barneys US and are a true dark brown, not the same color as yours. Probably not due to age.

I would not try to make them darker. Your color looks fine, many igents here prefer the lighter tans. there are plenty of dark brown boots you can get if that is what you want.

I believe the Grenson are called Smith.

Originally Posted by ap10046 

Those look great. I suppose that would be the colour I would like to achieve!