Meermin Mallorca Shoes

[Crizzlelovesyou]

Just curious, I'm not familiar with the plating terminology. Are you talking about grain printed shell? Or shaved/marbled/etc?

Neither, but closer to embossing I guess. Plating is a process where flat heated plates are pressed onto the leather to condense the fiber structure.

 

[stephenaf2003]

Waiting for the highly anticipated narrative from Meermin on the cheap shell cordovan. I expect nothing less than Viberg on their new leather

From Viberg's website:

"Horween Wooly" is a variation of Chromexcel that is stuffed with a heavy blend of unrefined lanolin, or “wool grease”, which is a bi-product of wool production. Stuffing the leather with this heavy lanolin produces a very oily, “self-polishing”, leather that easily molds to the shape of the foot once it’s been heat-activated by wear, and broken in.

The oily texture produced by the lanolin stuffing does not bind to any glues or cement and, therefore, Wooly can only be used in footwear that employs traditional attachment methods like Stitchdown, Goodyear, and Blake construction.

Sounds interesting. I think it’s just something these shoe makers do, to keep those of us that have too many shoes interested.

 

[Crizzlelovesyou]

Got word from Meermin that the scuffed shell is on the way to the US, but this time it will be separated and shipped from here as opposed to shipped from them directly which was my experience with the shell pie crusts I got in January. I guess this saves them money on shipping costs.

 

[vdubiv]

Got word from Meermin that the scuffed shell is on the way to the US, but this time it will be separated and shipped from here as opposed to shipped from them directly which was my experience with the shell pie crusts I got in January. I guess this saves them money on shipping costs.

Thanks for the update, I've been going crazy waiting for these, they are my first shell boots and first Meermin order, so I'm curious how my guess work was on sizing.

If they come in time I may jump on the waxy shell that's up right now, I'm sure they aren't selling defective shells, like people think, and they look good and have me curious.

 

[Patrick1053]

Thanks for the update, I've been going crazy waiting for these, they are my first shell boots and first Meermin order, so I'm curious how my guess work was on sizing.

If they come in time I may jump on the waxy shell that's up right now, I'm sure they aren't selling defective shells, like people think, and they look good and have me curious.

There's a difference between sub-par shell and defective. I don't think anyone here thinks the Waxy shell is made with defective shells.

 

[Crizzlelovesyou]

Thanks for the update, I've been going crazy waiting for these, they are my first shell boots and first Meermin order, so I'm curious how my guess work was on sizing.

If they come in time I may jump on the waxy shell that's up right now, I'm sure they aren't selling defective shells, like people think, and they look good and have me curious.

I'm just glad they finally got back to me about them honestly.

 

[vdubiv]

There's a difference between sub-par shell and defective. I don't think anyone here thinks the Waxy shell is made with defective shells.

if you read back a page or so, that's basically the direction the conversation was being steered, it was being eluded to that the shells were of second quality.

I think the boots look awesome and are ready to take a beating!

 

[Patrick1053]

Yeah, but second quality and defective are too different things.

 

[Crizzlelovesyou]

if you read back a page or so, that's basically the direction the conversation was being steered, it was being eluded to that the shells were of second quality.

I think the boots look awesome and are ready to take a beating!

Without a doubt they are second quality. Shell tanneries are very picky about shell. It isn't Meermin being sneaky and elusive about what tannery it is, it is absolutely that whichever tannery made these does not want their name attached.

That being said the key thing here is that these are likely seconds because they are undyable. So they'll likely function fine, but since they could not receive dye due to any number of visual deformities, they were finished and waxed. Only second class shells go for prices this low.

Going to edit this to reiterate my point very carefully haha:

I buy and own plenty of seconds, and horween sells leather as seconds all the time through 3rd parties. Neither footwear nor leather marked as seconds are physically poor. What it means is there are cosmetic issues that put them at not up to snuff.


I also make a habit of only buying footwear that names the tannery, and that may sound a little snobbish, but Meermin works with a lot of great tanneries and has always up until this point been happy to say which tannery they're currently using.

 

[vdubiv]

Understood,

FWIW I have bought seconds myself with very good luck from other manufacturers, also first quality footwear is only such until the first wear!

 

[stephenaf2003]

Without a doubt they are second quality. Shell tanneries are very picky about shell. It isn't Meermin being sneaky and elusive about what tannery it is, it is absolutely that whichever tannery made these does not want their name attached.

That being said the key thing here is that these are likely seconds because they are undyable. So they'll likely function fine, but since they could not receive dye due to any number of visual deformities, they were finished and waxed. Only second class shells go for prices this low.

Going to edit this to reiterate my point very carefully haha:

I buy and own plenty of seconds, and horween sells leather as seconds all the time through 3rd parties. Neither footwear nor leather marked as seconds are physically poor. What it means is there are cosmetic issues that put them at not up to snuff.


I also make a habit of only buying footwear that names the tannery, and that may sound a little snobbish, but Meermin works with a lot of great tanneries and has always up until this point been happy to say which tannery they're currently using.

….you guys throwing mad shade at Meermin..lol

 

[zurich64]

Understood,

FWIW I have bought seconds myself with very good luck from other manufacturers, also first quality footwear is only such until the first wear!

The build quality of these waxy shell boots looks OK, but the leather reminds me of a pair of hiking boots I left outside for a year (garden clean up before the first snow) with mold gathering on top. After a thorough cleaning with saddle soap, lots of creams, and wax, that boot looked exactly like this "shell".

 

[vdubiv]

What do you expect for a $350 price point on shell, gyw boots? If I get these it will be a pair I would worry about getting scuffed up and more just for hard wearing everyday beat around boots

 

[stephenaf2003]

The build quality of these waxy shell boots looks OK, but the leather reminds me of a pair of hiking boots I left outside for a year (garden clean up before the first snow) with mold gathering on top. After a thorough cleaning with saddle soap, lots of creams, and wax, that boot looked exactly like this "shell".

For the low price of $350 I get them without waiting a year, or putting all the work involved with those creams and wax etc…win, win ?

 

[AnticClay]

Honestly, if Meermin is finding a way to effectively upcycle "less-than-first" quality shells into a new product at a reduced price, I'm here for it.

For one, it makes more efficient use of a limited resource. Second, there have been *plenty* of instances where an industry looked at byproducts or cast-offs and created products that either stood in their own right or even totally eclipsed the parent product.

I think waxing is a novel, intelligent, and attractive way to go with this. A beat up waxed leather that patinas but doesn't crease seems like a great angle to take for shells that aren't deemed fit for the "prestige" of glazed cordovan.