Within the course of a year, I've bought 6 pair of Carminas, which is fast becoming my favorite brand, ahead of C&J. Main reason is that the quality is on par, but prices are 20%-30% cheaper. And their cordovan models are unparallelled (and yes, I've owned Alden).
Of those 6 pairs, 3 came from their Paris store, 1 from the Bacelone shop, 1 from Madrid Gran Via, and 1 from Madrid Claudio Coello. I haven't visited their Madrid Serrano store yet.
By far, the best selection is to be found at Claudio Coello. The store is easily twice as big as any of their other stores. Paris and Gran Via are OK, Barcelona slightly disappointing when it comes to the selection.
At the end of January, when I was in Madrid, the sales were on. I bought a pair of cognac cordovan penny loafers in the Forest last, at EUR 300, which was an absolute steal. I think they were discontinuing this color. With the sales, a number of calf models could be found in the EUR 200 - 250 range. At that price, I'd have bought 5 more pairs if I'd had enough space in my suitcase.
Otherwise, regular prices are a bit cheaper in Spain as they are in Paris. Cordovans at EUR 550 in Paris can be found at EUR 495 in Spain, if I recall correctly.
Service is superb: I was buying the calf / suede spectator earlier this week in Paris, and while I was trying for size, Luis (the store manager) decided to take my C&J suede Chukkas to clean them.
The Armoury, which I visited in April, has a more limited selection compared to any Carmina store, but they do have models that are commissioned for them only, like the suede stringloafer. Brilliant stuff.
Lastly, Carminas can be found at Trading Post in Japan. Prices are sky high thanks to import taxes and the strong Yen.
I hope this helps.
Cheers,
Boris
Edited by flanker2000fr - 8/4/12 at 12:07am
