I have never had the pleasure of actually dealing with a pair of Corthay shoes in the flesh before but just two days ago I was able to actually hold, admire and put a wicked shine on a pair of his classic two eyelet derby’s called ‘Arca.’ Let me tell you, they are absolutely stunning and are the real deal. You could easily tell the quality was superb and that the shoes had all of the components to actually justify the price tag. It may be hard to tell because of the pictures but the color seemed to be of his classic ‘aubergine.’ The customer was asking me what color I think that I should have added in order to bring out the shoes’ patina and ideally I would have loved to have some sort of purple, close to the shoes’s color, but I didn’t and just thought to add neutral, even though I am not a huge fan of neutral, as I believe that it does not bring up the shine as well. I am not sure if the customer actually dealt with Corthay himself, but he said that the guy who sold him (that he believed to be Corthay) the shoes recommended adding blue. As my blue wax polish does not have a super strong pigment, I figured ‘what’s the worst that could happen?’ As it would be, the shoes did change color, slightly, into a more grayish tone. Nonetheless, they turned up beautifully and it was pleasure being able to finally meet and shine some Corthay shoes in the flesh!
These shoes are amazing. I actually really love the patina as is. It brings out a very elegant midnight feeling with the black and purple. They really did turn out beautiful, but then again it is hard to go wrong with Corthay. Good work
What does the after polish look like with the flash?
Nick – Thanks!! Yes, indeed, it’s hard to mess up when you are working with such wonderful leather!
Jim C. – Can’t remember which one’s had flash and which did not but I think that the top one of the bottom three had it for sure. My lighting is weird at G&H so that’s why there are all different looks. Ideally I should take one outside in the daylight but that’s not always something I remember.
-Justin, “The Shoe Snob”