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madhat

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O0kXdDS.jpg


I feel like you really should have to walk into the store, if for no other reason than to prove that you can.
Especially for something called a Crawgator...
 

CWOyaji

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Nealjpage

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O0kXdDS.jpg


I feel like you really should have to walk into the store, if for no other reason than to prove that you can.
How about a compromise? In Nebraska they have drive in liquor stores. I call 'em beer garages. You have to get out of your car to make the purchase.
 

friendlygoz

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Here’s my first attempt at a museum patina. I used to some Allen Edmonds Warwicks. I bought these several years ago off of eBay. I really like the style, but the leather on the right shoe has not held up well in spite of my fastidious care. There’s some cracking on the vamp and the leather on that shoe just seems inferior. Someone at the AE factory had a bad day at the sewing machine. The heel stitching is uneven and the strap area was sewn so tightly that they split after the first wear. The seller took them back and had them repaired (he lived in Milwaukee and said he had a friend at the AE factory; I think he worked there and was selling second out the back door). The bottom line is they were a good pair to experiment with.

I followed this video on YouTube. This guy does pretty cool patinas.


It seemed easy enough. I stripped the shoes with acetone.

8ADD74E4-922A-46D5-B996-DB0E593D814C.jpeg

I coated each shoe with diluted burgundy shoe dye. Then I started dabbing spots of burgundy and light brown undiluted shoe dye. At some point, I mistakingly used oil-based dye for the light brown on one of the shoes. It was giving off a weird sheen. So I stripped that shoe again. That move resulted in slightly mismatched underlying color between the two shoes. I didn’t really notice that until the end. When I was done dabbing spots of dye, I thought I had actually ruined the shoes. Here’s what they looked like.
49C9C17F-251D-4CDC-8695-E0C0E1F62E05.jpeg
935F8EFB-5327-409F-A72C-F51B6ABD6331.jpeg

But when I started conditioning them with Saphir renovateur, they actually started to look cool. Somehow conditioning blended the colors and brought out the red tones. In the end, I achieved a nice, subtle museum patína. It’s hard to see from the photos, but it’s there. The only thing bothering me is that the underlying red tones are slightly different but it’s probably something only I will notice. Here are the results.
38EFF0CA-AE70-4B11-83BC-20759F882AB9.jpeg
CD58EAB4-F696-45CE-9732-9FA11BFD602F.jpeg
81F73AE3-0330-4CE8-8F7A-7C2579F5B32E.jpeg
C794AB39-79A6-4841-BE54-5E482E5288C9.jpeg
F1E52EF3-EB1E-42C0-ADFD-84904B4AE1E0.jpeg
 
Last edited:

meister

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Resipsaloquitor

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The Goodwill Crockett & Jones pair from Thursday; Dack's trees fit them best. @Resipsaloquitor, did you end up with an odd Dack's tree last time we met up? LMK, I'd like to reunite a pair if they match one of these next time we get together.
View attachment 1430307
Antique Burnished Tan is what C&J calls this color. Their own-brand equivalent model is the 'Rosebery'.
View attachment 1430308
Stuart's Choice branding on the footbed, but they're marked 330 inside which is a classic C&J last.
View attachment 1430309
Total vintage violation but these are great shoes, wish they were my size.
View attachment 1430310
I would remember those J as they would go great with me Dacks from our brother up yonder! Back at the rock quarry after the 9th and will take a look. Just got my EBay Alden loafers today...awesome but feet were sore from climbing around the lake for a few days so the maiden soon.
95D16E77-0919-4B24-BA71-C55D79409BA0.png
 

wasmisterfu

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Worth noting that due to modern batteries, it's unlikely even after a service you'll get the 1min per month accuracy when they were new.
I was told my 5 min per month is pretty reasonable.
A couple years ago these guys were the recommended servicers; average watch guys aren't recommend
Interesting, I didn’t know that (regarding batteries).

As for average watchmakers and watch repair, in general, most shops aren’t very good nowadays. That’s actually what got me into it from a hobby standpoint. I loved collecting antique pocket watches, but servicing them with folks who really knew what they were doing, was prohibitively expensive. While not quite as out of control as my shoe collection, I don’t have just one or two. Making sure they’re throughly torn-down, lubricated correctly (with the correct oils for the high-speed portions of the geartrain, versus the low speed, high friction portions), balance adjusted (I generally only adjust to 4 position, but sometimes I’ll do all 6), and just generally making sure everything is done correctly, either means dropping 4-5 bills per watch, every 3-5 years, or learning how to do the work yourself. I can now even re-staff a balance and press jewels (thanks to my ancient staking set) which if you have to pay someone else to do, is stupid expensive.

Most watch repair folks today are battery swappers. I’ve seen some pretty awful work (that I’ve sorted out for a few friends), done by local watchmakers. For example, one lousy shop had simply jammed my friends Waltham through cleaning without properly disassembly, subjecting the pallet-fork and balance impulse jewels to solvent, which damaged shellac that holds them in place, with impulse jewel actually coming loose - thankfully it was still rattling around in the case, so I had to reset them.
 

woofmang

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Here’s my first attempt at a museum patina. I used to some Allen Edmonds Warwicks. I bought these several years ago off of eBay. I really like the style, but the leather on the right shoe has not held up well in spite of my fastidious care. There’s some cracking on the vamp and the leather on that shoe just seems inferior. Someone at the AE factory had a bad day at the sewing machine. The heel stitching is uneven and the strap area was sewn so tightly that they split after the first wear. The seller took them back and had them repairs (he lived in Milwaukee and said he had a friend at the AE factory. Bottom line is they were a good pair to experiment with.

I followed this video on YouTube. This guy does pretty cool patinas.


It seemed easy enough. I stripped the shoes with acetone.

View attachment 1431105
I coated each shoe with diluted burgundy shoe dye. Then I started dabbing spots of burgundy and light brown undiluted shoe dye. At some point, I mistakingly used oil based dye for the light brown on one of the shoes. It was giving off a weird sheen. So I stripped that shoe again. That move resulted in slightly mismatched underlying color between the two shoes. I didn’t really notice that until the end. When I was done dabbing spots of dye, I thought I had actually ruined the shoes. Here’s what they looked like. View attachment 1431107 View attachment 1431108
But when I started conditioning them with Saphir renovateur, they actually started to look cool. Somehow conditioning blended the colors and brings out the underlying red tones. In the end, I achieved a nice, subtle museum patína. It’s hard to see from the photos, but it’s there. The only thing bothering me is that the underlying red tones are slightly different but it’s probably something only I will notice. Here are the results.
View attachment 1431109 View attachment 1431110 View attachment 1431111 View attachment 1431112 View attachment 1431113

Shoe restoration challenge material right there. Nice job!
 

shirtandty

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Would this pair be something worth cleaning up? This isn't something i have done before so i'm just curious about the small cracks on the side and what not. Any bit of advice is appreciated.
 

suitforcourt

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x

Would this pair be something worth cleaning up? This isn't something i have done before so i'm just curious about the small cracks on the side and what not. Any bit of advice is appreciated.

For personal use? No.

For a fun project? Yes. But too expensive for project shoes.
 

wasmisterfu

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Messages
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Here’s my first attempt at a museum patina. I used to some Allen Edmonds Warwicks. I bought these several years ago off of eBay. I really like the style, but the leather on the right shoe has not held up well in spite of my fastidious care. There’s some cracking on the vamp and the leather on that shoe just seems inferior. Someone at the AE factory had a bad day at the sewing machine. The heel stitching is uneven and the strap area was sewn so tightly that they split after the first wear. The seller took them back and had them repairs (he lived in Milwaukee and said he had a friend at the AE factory. Bottom line is they were a good pair to experiment with.

I followed this video on YouTube. This guy does pretty cool patinas.


It seemed easy enough. I stripped the shoes with acetone.

View attachment 1431105
I coated each shoe with diluted burgundy shoe dye. Then I started dabbing spots of burgundy and light brown undiluted shoe dye. At some point, I mistakingly used oil based dye for the light brown on one of the shoes. It was giving off a weird sheen. So I stripped that shoe again. That move resulted in slightly mismatched underlying color between the two shoes. I didn’t really notice that until the end. When I was done dabbing spots of dye, I thought I had actually ruined the shoes. Here’s what they looked like. View attachment 1431107 View attachment 1431108
But when I started conditioning them with Saphir renovateur, they actually started to look cool. Somehow conditioning blended the colors and brings out the underlying red tones. In the end, I achieved a nice, subtle museum patína. It’s hard to see from the photos, but it’s there. The only thing bothering me is that the underlying red tones are slightly different but it’s probably something only I will notice. Here are the results.
View attachment 1431109 View attachment 1431110 View attachment 1431111 View attachment 1431112 View attachment 1431113

First, the work you did looks absolutely fantastic.

As for the leather... yeah, wow. Not good.These look like they’re right from the tail-end of the Grangaard era (gold-lettering on an unnecessary heel liner), when the (second) private equity firm was trying to unload AE, and they were at peak production. Things were very hit or miss during that period.
 

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