What colour cordovan is this?

[TRINI]

Can someone help me identify what colour Alden cordovan this is? The ebay listing I'm looking at doesn't say...

Thanks in advance...

 

[Tarmac]

looks like calf?

 

[Thurston]

Originally Posted by Tarmac

looks like calf?

+1

 

[TRINI]

Drat.

The shoes were listed as shell cordovan and the model is supposedly 2156.

 

[johnny_flapjack]

Ask for a pic of the soles. If they're cordovan Aldens, they'll have a brand right in the middle of the sole stating as much.

 

[Tarmac]

just saw the listing, they are cordovan.

they must be ravello, but it looks like the seller rubbed some sort of shiny lacquer polish on them.

 

[Cantabrigian]

FWIW those look like cordovan to me.

If that is the case, I think that color is ravello.

 

[TRINI]

Thanks gents - much appreciated.

 

[NoVaguy]

Originally Posted by triniboy27

Can someone help me identify what colour Alden cordovan this is? The ebay listing I'm looking at doesn't say...

Thanks in advance...

I guess ravello - I saw the auction, and the sole of the shoe has a remnant of the shell cordovan stamp.

 

[robin]

They seem a bit too red to be Ravello, though colors do change quite a bit over time. There was also a mahogany color as well, that's no longer in use.

 

[well-kept]

They may be old #8s. The color designated as #8 has changed drastically over the years and in previous decades it was lighter, warmer and more consistent than it is today, Alden especially, which coats theirs in an almost black over-stain to conceal flaws.

 

[robin]

Originally Posted by well-kept

They may be old #8s. The color designated as #8 has changed drastically over the years and in previous decades it was lighter, warmer and more consistent than it is today, Alden especially, which coats theirs in an almost black over-stain to conceal flaws.
IIRC, Alden's #8 changed when Kiwi stopped making it, so Alden instead made up their own.

 

[well-kept]

Originally Posted by robin

IIRC, Alden's #8 changed when Kiwi stopped making it, so Alden instead made up their own.

The #8 color designation belongs to the tannery - Horween of Chicago. The same #8 shell is supplied to various manufacturers who then either leave it as is or enhance the color in some way, either before or after lasting. Older AEs, Florsheims, Nettletons and Aldens all possess a warm color rarely found today. There is some question about what color shell C&J uses for their Polos. I believe it is the same color without additional dye applied.

Quite a few years ago I asked an Alden rep what kind of polish they used on their #8 shells before they went into the box. His answer: Kiwi Dark Tan. Well, you'd never use dark tan on current Alden #8 production. It is almost black when new.

 

[robin]

^ Interesting. I was under the impression that Alden did the dying themselves. I'll try and get the story straight next time I see Nate.

 

[Tarmac]

Nate....Alden? lol

anyway the old-stock-kiwi-original-#8-horween-freemason conspiracy theory sounds a little too complicated since there is a color called ravello which it looks like.

but, Alden stock numbers designate color+model, so any Alden rep should be able to tell what the original color of 2156 was. there was only one color