Japanese Cordovan

Mayer do have Horween shell cordovan in house btw.
They charged HKD4500 for a pair. That is USD580. I think it is the cheapest MTM horween shell you could get around the world.

Originally Posted by Fishball

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Finally I ordered 2 sheets of shell cordovan from Japan. Made by Shinki-Hikaku Co.
They will ship them to me this week, hope I will get them next week.
I will compare it with the shell I ordered from Horween.
It is very diffcult to order stuff from Japan. Hope that the leather is good.
They are much much cheaper than Horween charge.

Just googled the company.
Live train a ride away from them... wow..
didnt realize Japan still made leather here.

Some pics of my Horween and Shinki Hikaku Cordovan:


Shinki-Hikaku on top of Horween

Shinki-Hikaku

Horween color #8

After I took the pics, I found out that my Vass antique congac (the dark side) is almost same color of the colour #8! I never knew that before.

Originally Posted by Fishball

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maxxed,

you can watch it on RTHK web. It is more on Woman shoe, but quite interesting. BTW, do you know Cantonese?
I did enrolled a course to learn how to make shoe, start at August.
Mayer is just next door to A-Man, so get a look when you visit A-Man.
They charged me HKD2,000 for CMT.

Hi, do you have a link for the program please? Which channel?

Originally Posted by chobochobo

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Hi, do you have a link for the program please? Which channel?

http://www.rthk.org.hk/rthk/tv/hkstoriesVI/20080421.ram
or
http://www.rthk.org.hk/asx/rthk/tv/h...I/20080421.asx

^
cheers!

if only it could saved/ downloaded.

Maxxed,

My Mayer Oxford.

Nothing special, but fit well. The upper leather is not too good though.

Fishball - thanks for posting that. It looks nice. I'm going to try and see them this weekend for sure. Will report back.

I tested the Japanese Shell also (old post about it...with pics, I think) and it was pretty good, but not as good as Horween. The test I ran involved cupping one shell from each, placing in a shoe box with water in the cup of the shells. After a couple of days, the Japanese shell leaked thru, while Horween's never did. Also, the Japanese spotted while Horween's just rolled off and looked as good as new.

But, the main difference is the supply of raw material, not the process of the tanneries so much. There is just a small supply out there, and they both know who has it.....Horween was able to secure this, more or less. I spoke with the Italian agent for the Japanese tannery last month and there is virtually no supply there from them.....I guess they have some in Japan, but nothing is around Italy on speculation for production, as they just can't supply anything consistent to a shoe factory. For me, Horween is the one.....no doubt.

One of our private label accounts detailed Shell Cordovan from us for next season's collection, and they referred us to an Italian tannery doing Shell Cordovan. We figured it was bs, and sure enough it was. Was basically calf tanned like Shell. VERY good imitation, and apparently quite a few Italian manufacturers are using this and calling it shell - saw one finished sample from a well known brand and it was hard to tell, except I was able to find a small vein in one area....genuine SC cannot have a vein. When we received the leather from the tannery, it was calf.

Bottom line is that Horween is far and away the best producer of Shell Cordovan....no suitable substitute IMO. There is an increased interest in this material, however, and the tanneries have reacted by coming up with a very good imitation (the calf version really is nice) which will be on the market next season from numerous brands. It's just not Genuine Shell Cordovan.

I saw one imtation before, it look real like shell, but is calf, not cheap though.
I agreed that japanese shell is not as good as horween, however, i think its still a very good leather. More important, much cheaper than Horween.

Rider, thanks a lot of your antiquing thead, I have a lot of fun reading it, also trying it in my old shoes.

Originally Posted by RIDER

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But, the main difference is the supply of raw material, not the process of the tanneries so much.
So Horween is really just getting the better hides? It would make sense.

The other story I've heard from them that sounds a little too quaint is that their tanning process is superior and can't be replicated anywhere else in the world due to environmental variables, even if the same formulas are used. The scientist in me tells me this is silly though.

I have also seen and handled some of that heavily tanned calf that you mention. I like it quite a bit when used in accessories like wallets and belts, but I'm not sure if I'd want shoes made from it.

Originally Posted by RIDER

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One of our private label accounts detailed Shell Cordovan from us for next season's collection, and they referred us to an Italian tannery doing Shell Cordovan. We figured it was bs, and sure enough it was. Was basically calf tanned like Shell. VERY good imitation, and apparently quite a few Italian manufacturers are using this and calling it shell - saw one finished sample from a well known brand and it was hard to tell, except I was able to find a small vein in one area....genuine SC cannot have a vein. When we received the leather from the tannery, it was calf.


Obviously this is very disturbing. I've often been frustrated with the US government's lax attitudes on certain things being labeled certain ways, but this is unbelievable. Is it that Italy has fewer rules, or is it that they don't enforce the rules?

Fishball, are your Mayer's ready yet? Pics?

The shoemaker of Mayer said the shell (both Horween & Japanese) can't be done for the style of RLPL Grant (the leather is too thick, it won't be comfortable, etc), so I change the style to like C&J Onslow, should be done on this week.