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Crockett & Jones quality

Booshwah

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Hi everybody,

just got a pair of C&J Chelsea 5 from Pediwear in the mail. They fit really well, but after all I've heard about C&J's superior quality I'm not all that impressed with the overall 'feel' of them. The leather creased rather unattractively (at the toe cap!) after a 15 minute walk and seems very thin. Perhaps I'm extremely picky.

Does anyone have the C&J Chelsea 5? What is your impression?

Also, the are supposed to be nubuck, not leather. Can I use regular Saphir shoecream?

All input much appreciated!

Cheers,

Anders
 

apropos

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Nubuck is one of the lowest grade leathers C&J offer.

It is a hair side out leather that has been sanded down to form a short nap (like a suede version of corrected grain I guess) and then 'treated' by C&J to take polish like regular calf leather.
 

entrero

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Nubuck should be treated like suede. No polish, no cream.... Good luck
 

IBJanky

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Originally Posted by entrero
Nubuck should be treated like suede. No polish, no cream.... Good luck

I'd have to disagree.

I have the C&J Tetbury and spit shined them with regular old Kiwi polish and they turned out just fine:

IMG_0963.jpg


IMG_0964.jpg


IMG_0965.jpg


myke
 

entrero

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Spit shining defeats the whole purpose of buying nubuck/suede, but you've proved it can be done.
 

GBR

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Any shoe will crease depending upon your gait and its fit. It is not a fault of the shoe in fit terms and is an attribute of a natural material - leather.
 

apropos

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Originally Posted by entrero
Spit shining defeats the whole purpose of buying nubuck/suede, but you've proved it can be done.
You don't get it - the C&J nubuck is not nubuck, or not identifiably nubuck anyway. It may have been nubuck at one point in time, but they have put something on it to make it polish up like regular calf or perhaps more accurately CG calf since it is more difficult to shine. When it arrives new in the box it looks just like regular calf leather, and from the photos above it certainly appears to crease like CG. So when you buy a C&J 'nubuck', you're not actually getting nubuck nubuck.
 

patrickBOOTH

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Originally Posted by Booshwah
Hi everybody,

just got a pair of C&J Chelsea 5 from Pediwear in the mail. They fit really well, but after all I've heard about C&J's superior quality I'm not all that impressed with the overall 'feel' of them. The leather creased rather unattractively (at the toe cap!) after a 15 minute walk and seems very thin. Perhaps I'm extremely picky.

Does anyone have the C&J Chelsea 5? What is your impression?

Also, the are supposed to be nubuck, not leather. Can I use regular Saphir shoecream?

All input much appreciated!

Cheers,

Anders


Creasing in the toe cap is usually a sign of improper fit. The use of good fitting shoe trees should cut down on this creasing.
 

IBJanky

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Originally Posted by apropos
You don't get it - the C&J nubuck is not nubuck, or not identifiably nubuck anyway.

It may have been nubuck at one point in time, but they have put something on it to make it polish up like regular calf or perhaps more accurately CG calf since it is more difficult to shine. When it arrives new in the box it looks just like regular calf leather, and from the photos above it certainly appears to crease like CG.

So when you buy a C&J 'nubuck', you're not actually getting nubuck nubuck.


This.

When I took the Tetbury out of the box, they appeared like regular calf skin leather.

So I went ahead and spit shined them and couldn't be happier with the results.

myke
 

IBJanky

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Originally Posted by Booshwah
Hi everybody,

just got a pair of C&J Chelsea 5 from Pediwear in the mail. They fit really well, but after all I've heard about C&J's superior quality I'm not all that impressed with the overall 'feel' of them. The leather creased rather unattractively (at the toe cap!) after a 15 minute walk and seems very thin. Perhaps I'm extremely picky.

Does anyone have the C&J Chelsea 5? What is your impression?

Also, the are supposed to be nubuck, not leather. Can I use regular Saphir shoecream?

All input much appreciated!

Cheers,

Anders


Sounds like you're just being nit picky. Also, did you get the right size?

myke
 

alliswell

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Originally Posted by apropos
When it arrives new in the box it looks just like regular calf leather, and from the photos above it certainly appears to crease like CG.

My Tetbury's didn't crease like CG, they "waved" like shell. They take a shine well, though I haven't tried a mirror finish like Myke's. If anything, the polish floats a little on the top of the leather, as they're easy to scuff and a finger will smooth any scuff out.
 

apropos

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Originally Posted by alliswell
My Tetbury's didn't crease like CG, they "waved" like shell.
Precisely. That, together with very fine creases, is how CG creases - although I suspect that what makes one CG wave more and the other fine crease more has something to do with the thickness of the leather as well. That is also incidentally the reason why there are so many posts on SF asking for help to differentiate between shell and CG for vintage shoes on eBay. And when you think about it, shell is kinda sorta CG, in the sense that the external layer is buffed away.
laugh.gif
The Tetbury is a nice boot, but I went for the Brecon instead.
 

apropos

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Originally Posted by Animal Thug
I purchased pairs of C&J benchgrade shoes after all of the hype here and wasn't impressed with them either. The handgrades use a slightly better leather I believe and I was more pleased on that front. I still own a pair of snuff suede shoes by C&J made to handgrade specs and love them dearly. YMMV
I don't know bris, I've never really been very happy with stuff that I have purchased on the basis of SF hype. And particularly stuff purchased online.

It really makes a world of difference to look at & feel a shoe in person before purchasing, unless of course you have prior experience with the brand/last.

I suppose your Finsburys aren't seeing much use now that the Malverns have arrived?
laugh.gif
 

Booshwah

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Originally Posted by IBJanky
Sounds like you're just being nit picky. Also, did you get the right size?

myke


Yes, nit picky, that's me. It's probably because these are my first really good shoes. Usually I buy cheaper brands like Barker and Loake.

After a day of wear the C&J look good, even if I think that they have creased a bit to close to the toe.
That may be due to a short toe cap, probably not bad fit. I'm not sure how thy could fit better.

It's strange, all my mail order shoes fit really well. I guess they just as well could turn out a disaster.
 

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