Shoe patina at Gaziano & Girling

[hectorm]

Earlier this month, while in London, I had the opportunity to drop by the Gaziano & Girling shop on Savile Road. My intentions were to take advantage of the friendliest exchange rate that we have had in a long time (and on top of the substantial 20% price differential that non EU shoppers usually enjoy).
While I didn´t fulfill my expectations in that sense (depending on the shoe last, they don´t carry RTW in my true size which would have pushed me to the made-to-order field, but that´s another story), I had the chance to learn about their “patina service”. In short: G&G now provides a service to personalize your pair of shoes (RTW or made to order) with a hand-applied color patina specially selected by you. Thomas, one of the resident artisans is in charge. Several basic colors are available.
I don´t want to sound like a marketing ad, but overall, the results I saw were admirable. Granted that some colors are a bit over the top for my taste, but some are subdued and add real character to the shoe. I don´t think this patina service is devised as a shortcut to achieving in an hour the look that a good pair of shoes would display after years of thoughtful polishing. That would be (and look) fake. It´s more the opportunity of working up from a pale, flat or not so interesting colored leather to something more attractive. I had seen this kind of patina used by a few shoemakers in France and Italy but never in the UK houses.

[hectorm]

I forgot to say that the G&G patina service is only provided for their own shoes and has an extra cost of 120 GBP.

[Frans]

Thank you for your report. From my last visit at G&G I recall they offer good products at a higher level than many other shoe makers do, both as far as RTW, MTM and bespoke is concerned. The patina service is an extension of this.

I had seen this kind of patina used by a few shoemakers in France and Italy but never in the UK houses.

True. Their "patina master" is French and was attracted for this reason, as you may know.

...of the friendliest exchange rate that we have had in a long time

Swiss chocolate has become real luxury now

[hectorm]

Their "patina master" is French and was attracted for this reason, as you may know.

Patina masters usually recommend the procedure to be applied after you have worn your new shoes 10 or 20 times, so your own pattern of creases is already set in the leather.
Unless I misunderstood, this doesn´t seem to be a problem with the G&G service which is applied to new RTW shoes (which is very convenient if you don´t live in London).