Meermin Mallorca Shoes

Quadcammer said:

that whole situation is a bloody disaster. shoes look terrible and those pants...yowzer

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I think we all need to remember that leather is a natural product, and it will have visible flaws, folds, creases, tic bites, and scratches. Cordovan is not immune either. When you take any skin that has been folded in the same direction over and over (on the animal) and use it in a different direction these flaws will show up. I hesitate to even call them flaws, it is what gives leather its character. When you buy shoes you pay for the knowledge and expertise of the maker, the better the maker (typically more expensive) the brand, the more they will know when cutting the leather for each piece. Lobb will make sure that the flex points on the hide will match the flex points on the shoe when the shoe is worn.

As for the shell in the image above, the creases you see are the re-distribution of fats in the the leather. When you flex or stretch the leather the fats move out of the stress points making the leather appear lighter temporarily. If you apply pressure (some use a deer bone) to the creases they will disappear, unfortunately as soon as you wear them again they will appear again. The only real solution to that is time, aka patina.

Scratches on shell are also very common due to the fact that the leather is so dense. It takes dozens of coats of stain at the factory for the hide to take on the color of the stain, so when the surface is scratched the color is removed much easier than cowhide for example, because the stain can only penetrate so much. If the scratch is bad, use a matching polish to darken the scratch, along with the deer bone to smooth/burnish the surface, brush and buff as you would any other shoe when polishing.

As for the light scratches on the toe a quick coat and buff of Saphir rejuvinator should take care of them no problem.

The red pantaloons I have no solution for, but if you have the boys for them I say go ahead and wear them.

David-

^I have more shell pairs than care to admit, but not one of them has looked like this Meermin pair after a few wears. Yes-yes, all grow white on the stretch points when the greases and tallow move to the surface. Not one looks as dry as this example. I've also had one Italian shell pair from Tricker's, it was poor but not as poor as this.



VRaivio said:

^I have more shell pairs than care to admit, but not one of them has looked like this Meermin pair after a few wears. Yes-yes, all grow white on the stretch points when the greases and tallow move to the surface. Not one looks as dry as this example. I've also had one Italian shell pair from Tricker's, it was poor but not as poor as this.

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Super dry horween shell from C&J



Quadcammer said:

that whole situation is a bloody disaster. shoes look terrible and those pants...yowzer

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http://lookatmyfuckingredtrousers.blogspot.com/

VRaivio said:

^I have more shell pairs than care to admit, but not one of them has looked like this Meermin pair after a few wears. Yes-yes, all grow white on the stretch points when the greases and tallow move to the surface. Not one looks as dry as this example. I've also had one Italian shell pair from Tricker's, it was poor but not as poor as this.

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As with all leathers there is going to be a range of quality withing the tanning and production. The shells Meermin use do not come from Horween, which happens to be the only shell I have handled and worked with, so I cannot speak to any level of expertise on Meermin's shells.

I too have a number of cordovan shoes, more than I should I suppose, and one or two belts. One of these belts, which is Horween shell from Alden, and looks very much like the shoes in the image after each wear. I started to put a coat of Saphir on it after each use and it is now beginning to take on the moisture some 8 months later.

While they look rough, they may just need more maintenance than your other shells, try giving them a coat of Saphir after each wear for a few weeks/months.

I guess my point in all this, with the collective pouncing on Meermin for spotty quality and poor leathers, is to keep in mind that leather is a natural product with a wide range of properties and differences from hide to hide. Leather is a skin and needs to be treated as such. Some skins are dry, some are oily, but they all need a little TLC, some more than others.

I am in no way excusing the flaws in craftsmanship, there is no excuse for that.

My .02 anyway.

David-

VRaivio said:

^I have more shell pairs than care to admit, but not one of them has looked like this Meermin pair after a few wears.

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x2

That being said, as DavidLane suggests, I am certain I could get that pair of Merms lookin' proper with some work (product and effort).

false post



smoothmoose said:

Not to further cause dissonance, but there seems to be a few unhappy campers here. I'm looking into Ed Et Al, not much activity on their SF thread, but they seem to have recently revamped the production and brought in new product lines. Got good reviews from Justin at The Shoe Snob. $300 singapore dollars (US$240) for a hand welted shoe, seems falls in between the price range of Meermin classic and LM. Taking a look at the Ed Et Al website though their designs IMO are notch up compared to Meermin. Being in Canada, the duty and tax hit makes ordering international a bit of an ROI killer. So I might just go to AE. But Ed Et Al, seems to be a viable option and maybe some of the fellow members in Asia are willing to give a try. Isn't Terrorsquad in Malaysia?

http://edetal.sg/

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I own two meermins (first ts museum mto and a pair of classic line suedes and returned a pair of LM whole cuts because I didn't like the new Rey last) and have checked out ed et Al's store in Singapore (took some pics and made comments in the ed et al thread here). Based on that, I'd say that meermins still has better leather quality and finishing than the eea rtw product at least.

Need to buy some shoe cream and wax for two pairs of Meermin shoes. Any advice on which shades/colors of Saphir I should go for?

Tan country calf


Light brown karangrain

My pair or AE MacNeils still don't look like cordovan shoes despite regular wear for a year. I guess that's a good thing then.

VRaivio said:

Not a pair of mine but I saw some members on this thread pondering about Meermin's shell cordovan. Here's an example from GG on how this leather of theirs looks after a few wears.

Shell is supposed to be among the oiliest and waxiest leather types, but these look dry as hell. Buyer beware.

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MarioImpemba said:

x2

That being said, as DavidLane suggests, I am certain I could get that pair of Merms lookin' proper with some work (product and effort).

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I've had a pair of Meermin burgundy shell shoes for a year now. Completely agree with how ridiculously dry they seemed at first. I kept getting the white streaks in the flex points and, in some places, it even looked like the finish was coming off. They looked terrible until I finally switched from Renovateur to Saphir burgundy cordovan creme. That seemed to do the trick as it evened out the color and finishing issues the shoes had and the white streaks disappeared. The Meermin shell is different from Horween as it seems stiffer and less prone to developing rolls. Here is a recent picture from a few months ago.



DavidLane said:

As with all leathers there is going to be a range of quality withing the tanning and production. The shells Meermin use do not come from Horween, which happens to be the only shell I have handled and worked with, so I cannot speak to any level of expertise on Meermin's shells.

I too have a number of cordovan shoes, more than I should I suppose, and one or two belts. One of these belts, which is Horween shell from Alden, and looks very much like the shoes in the image after each wear. I started to put a coat of Saphir on it after each use and it is now beginning to take on the moisture some 8 months later. 

While they look rough, they may just need more maintenance than your other shells, try giving them a coat of Saphir after each wear for a few weeks/months. 

I guess my point in all this, with the collective pouncing on Meermin for spotty quality and poor leathers, is to keep in mind that leather is a natural product with a wide range of properties and differences from hide to hide. Leather is a skin and needs to be treated as such. Some skins are dry, some are oily, but they all need a little TLC, some more than others. 

I am in no way excusing the flaws in craftsmanship, there is no excuse for that. 

My .02 anyway.

David- 

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that is all well and good, but doesn't change the fact that those shoes, in that picture, look freaking terrible.

Thanks good feedback. Though are you comparing EEA to Meermin classic or LM?

New Shoes1 said:

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Ya, those look good, and good feedback for everyone.

The prices that Meermin charges just shows the obscene profits that makers like Gaziano & Girling and Edward Green are making.

I bet it costs G&G not more than $100 to make a pair of shoes with labor included. They then turn around and charge $1,200. Not bad I say.

Jermyn said:

I know, I´m still trying to figure out how they´re making money on them.

The trees are lasted and cost €35, they are more EG than St.C but decent for the price nonetheless.

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