Services

A sole is finished when the stitching wears through, the leather goes soft in the forepart, or you can feel the ground through it. Left longer, the wear reaches the welt and the job gets bigger.

Half soles

Leather or rubber across the forepart, where the sole is worn but the waist is sound.

Full soles

Heel to toe, in JR leather, Dainite rubber or Vibram, depending on the shoe and the weather you walk in.

Welted and stitched work

Goodyear-welted shoes and boots are stitched, not glued, so the sole can be replaced again later.

Heels wear on one edge first. Once the tip is gone and the heel block starts to round off, the shoe sits crooked and the upper twists with it.

Heel tips

New tips on womens heels and dress shoes — the quickest job we do, and the one worth not putting off.

Rebuilt heel blocks

Stacked leather or rubber heels rebuilt back to their original height on boots and brogues.

Top pieces

Rubber or leather top pieces, matched to how the shoe was made.

Toe wear is the first thing to go on a new leather sole, and scuffs on the upper are the first thing anyone else notices. Both are cheaper to prevent than to repair.

Toe protection

A metal or rubber toe piece let into the sole before it wears back to the welt.

Topy and Svig soling

A thin protective layer bonded to a new leather sole — grip in the wet, and the original sole underneath stays intact.

Scuff and colour work

Scuffs filled, edges re-dressed, and colour brought back with Saphir creams and dyes.

A recraft is not a resole. The shoe comes apart to the upper: old cork out, new leather midsole and cork bed in, then the sole is stitched back on and the waist and edges finished by hand.

Full recraft

For welted boots and shoes worth keeping — the sort of pair you have already resoled once.

Fiddleback waists

Hand-shaped bevelled waists where the original shoe had them, or where you want them.

Cork and midsole replacement

The layer that has moulded to your foot, rebuilt so the shoe supports you again.

Split seams, a loose sole edge, a broken shank, a lining worn through at the heel. Structural work is worth doing early — the shoe keeps its shape while you still have one to copy.

Restitching

Seams and sole stitching redone on the machine or by hand where the machine cannot reach.

Laces and eyelets

Replacement laces in stock, and eyelets refitted where they have pulled through.

Leather will give in some directions and not others. Bring the shoe in and we will tell you honestly whether stretching will fix the fit or only move the problem.

Width and length stretching

On the last, with the shoe left long enough for the leather to hold the new shape.

Spot stretching

For a bunion, a joint or a single point that rubs.

Most leather that looks finished is only dry. Conditioning brings back the flex, and the right product matters more on exotic and delicate leathers than on calf.

Clean and condition

Saphir cleaners, creams and waxes, chosen for the leather in front of us.

Exotic leathers

Reptile and other exotics treated with products made for them, not general polish.

Care products over the counter

Brushes, creams, laces and polish in the shop, and we will special order what we do not stock.

Residential keys cut in the shop, including coloured blanks so the spare is easy to pick out. Bring the original — a copy of a copy is where keys start to fail.