Saphir Renovateur

Would I recommend Saphir Renovator? Yes, absolutely for Horween Chromix cell or for any sort of black calfskin dressy boots, anything that you want a ...

I’m going to use Saphir Renovateur on my calf and shell stuff. I’m going to use VSC on scuffs and things I want to add a shine to without any risk of over conditioning. If I was doing it over again, I’d replace Esquire with Bick #4. Esquire doesn’t seem to soak in well to any of these leathers, making it effectively less potent than I expected… which might be a feature, not a bug.

The black is also nice when you only want to have one shoe while traveling and do not want to stand out. Care wise I usually just brush them and store with shoe trees. I originally used Saphir Renovateur every six months or when they had something particularly bad spilled on them. I eventually switched to black cordovan cream as I found renovateur sometimes made the shell feel dry after use.

turns out this beautiful matte leather doesn't remain quite so matte after a few years of use... or could be the attempted restoration i did a year or so ago trying to protect them. anyways, rainy season is upon us in vancouver and i thought i'd take the time to do a lil rejuvenation with Saphir Renovateur. I've long given up on the initial matte coating and am now letting them grow and evolve on their own. these guys are worn a few times a week- somewhere betwen 2 and 5 depending on time of year.

I really only use Bick 4, VSC (sparingly), and Saphir renovateur. I might be internet shoe-nerd bullshitting but I feel like conditioners like Bick 4, VSC, and Renovateur are different than creams. The goal of creams I feel is generally a shine and some color-correction so they include pigments and have a pretty high wax content which definitely won't absorb into shell in comparison to porous leathers. I personally probably wouldn't use Alden's wax _either_ though since it is a wax but I generally subscribe to the very minimal care approach they are suggesting.

For anyone who bought the latest XiaoC Chanel 19 bag with silver CC clasp that came with fufu smell, I used Saphir Renovateur leather cream on it and the smell is gone. Now, Saphir has a distinct and very strong smell of its own but it’s still lesser of two evils! I’d rather my bag smell of leather cream than fufu.