The shell is not a smooth leather with a grain side. It is actually a piece taken from just below the grain. It is a very dense, fibrous muscle tissue - so it is naturally hairy on the surface. They look and feel smooth when finished from the tannery and what ever additional treatments they get from C&J. Over time and with exposure to the elements, the factory finish wears off and some of those hairs start to become apparent.
There are mixed feelings about this phenomenon. Some people feel it is a factory defect. Others feel it is caused by the dense fiber structure starting to expand, leading to quicker water saturation and ultimately a quicker demise. Some people feel it is normal aging for shell that is exposed to multiple wet/dry cycles, ice and snow, dirt and salt, over years. My Carmina pair and an older Alden pair did the same things - though the Alden pair did take considerably longer before it started happening.
After the application of Renovateur, the fibers are matted down by the wax layer in the conditioner. While it will never look factory-fresh again, it does look and feel smoother.
I did not sand the edges. I prefer to get it done by a cobbler. I guess when the toplift needs replacing I'll ask him to refinish the edges at the same time.
The water spots are all gone. I'm still not entirely sure why, but I find it far harder to remove the spots on Alden shell vs C&J and Carmina shell. Some people say it is because of the factory finish. But yeah, Renovateur seems to do the job.
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