Crockett & Jones Handgrade Dry Leather - Faulty or Not? Help!

I know others on this forum have had problems with dry leather on the CJ handgrades. I bought a pair of Cliffords two months ago and wear them about once a week. I polish them with Saphir Medaille D'Or cream and wax. The shoes look fine when newly polished but have always been very dry . After a short walk they look lighter and dry. Since the cream makes the shoes darker the problem is getting worse. I am currently awaiting C&J's advice on this. My C&J HG Audleys do not have the same problems. What would your advice be on this? [ After good advices I understand the ugly creasing are not because of dry, but probably caused by second grade leather. And yes, I did use too much shoe polish!] Polished: After a short walk:

looks like you may be applying too much wax in the stress areas and that wax may be caking/flaking because of it.

^Yes- they don't look dry- just like the wax creasing. I find you need about 1/5th as much Saphir as you think you do.

Originally Posted by faketrain

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looks like you may be applying too much wax in the stress areas and that wax may be caking/flaking because of it.

Thanks! You might be right.
Since the vamp is very dry I probably applied to much cream and wax.

What would you advice?

Could it be enough if i polished the shoes just brushing without any wax o cream for a period?
Would neutral cream or renovator help?

Originally Posted by Cary Grant

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^Yes- they don't look dry- just like the wax creasing. I find you need about 1/5th as much Saphir as you think you do.

Thanks!
Sounds like I will be spendig less money on shoe care!

stop polishing so often

As other posters have said use less polish. But also use the money you save for some Renovateur and apply after every wearing to condition the leather.

Originally Posted by Will

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As other posters have said use less polish. But also use the money you save for some Renovateur and apply after every wearing to condition the leather.
Thanks Will and pebblegrain! I will polish less and buy some Renovateur! Already would if my local store had carried Saphirs D'Or line. How big is the actual difference between the Medaille D'Or and regular? Should Renovateur be used after every wearing? Are there any risk using too much Renovateur?

Originally Posted by Melvin Udall

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Thanks Will and pebblegrain!
I will polish less and buy some Renovateur! Already would if my local store had carried Saphirs D'Or line. How big is the actual difference between the Medaille D'Or and regular?

Should Renovateur be used after every wearing? Are there any risk using too much Renovateur?

No need to use it after each wearing,that's too much hassle. I'd say after every 3-4 wearings.

I have a tough time believing all those creases and cracks are just polish build-up, those shoes look really dry.

Originally Posted by Will

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As other posters have said use less polish. But also use the money you save for some Renovateur and apply after every wearing to condition the leather.
After every wearing? A little involved, no? Sometimes the clothes-grooming/care advice given on SF makes me wonder what's worse - 1) to get a pair of shoes like this but only photograph them, never wearing them (which it seems some people on SF do) or 2) to buy a pair of shoes like this, wear them, but also baby them with this level of uber-care.

That amount of creasing after just 2 months of ownership is not nice
I have seen it on my C&J Wigmore's although since they are just lowly benchgrades I thought it more acceptable- however they have put me off C&J somewhat

On the issue of colour changing at the wrinkle sites after a few hours of use the worst case I have experienced is with the Barker Black Cognac 'Lancer' Side laces. It happens all the time and if some one told me I was putting too much cream/polish I would tell them they don’t know what they are talking about since i don’t particularly choose that shoe to waste polish on. But then I thought this happened because Barker Black's use bad quality leather and since they only cost £150 I could live with it

Of course there is a lot of cognitive bias happening here, i.e., I have decided C&J are great- there is some report against C&J ‘performance’  I choose to believe it is nothing. It is the guy’s fault as he polishes ‘too much’

I love SF

Ruben, the shoes are indeed dry!
Would Renovateur solve the problem?

You got a point, Johnny Crockett!
Very similar problems have been discussed a couple of years ago in the thread "C&J Handgrade Leather Quality": http://www.styleforum.net/showthread.php?t=118911
However nobody posted pictures of their shoes back then.

Do you think the shoes should be sent back to C&J for examination?

I have the exact same issue with a pair of Belgrade (I believe). I thought maybe I was polishing too much, but now I'm starting to think that maybe it is C&J.

Originally Posted by Melvin Udall

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Do you think the shoes should be sent back to C&J for examination?

, yeah do that and I am sure they will send you a new pair, and a refund to boot

Ps- If it hapens i am travelling to northampton with my Wigmores next week