To start, shell cordovan is made from horse hide, specifically the flat muscle or shell , hence the name from the rump of the horse. You read that right: this leather is made from horse ass. And, as most of the world no longer raises horses as part of the food industry, tanneries are immediately stricken with severe limitations upon the number of suitable hides available.
Processing the raw material into quality leather is a whole other beast. At Horween, the tanning process takes a minimum of six months ; hides are vegetable-tanned for at least 60 days, then hot-stuffed and hand-cured, shaved, and dyed by skilled artisans. The time, money and skill needed for such a process help make for a spectacularly narrow playing field.
Due to the length and complexity of the process, only a few tanneries on the planet bother to produce cordovan these days. Raising horses for food fell under controversy in the s due to the meat not being treated properly and being unsafe for consumption, along with horses being viewed more as pets rather than food. Along with this, viable horse hide tends to be quite small when taken from the animal, as it almost always needs to be taken from the rump. This means that even when a horse hide is being processed into leather, there is not a lot of material to work with, further lowering the overall supply.
There are a few reasons that Shell Cordovan leather tends to be more durable than many others. One of the main reasons is that the leather is made up of a membrane rather than the fibres found in lower grade leathers.
This is where the leather is the thickest. Because the ingredients are limited to this particular area, one horse produces far less material than cows. A pair of shoes usually requires about 1. In addition to the limited supply, shell cordovan requires a vigorous tanning process that can take up to 6 months to produce. The specific skills needed to tan a shell cordovan also mean that there are few tanning factories that can produce the material.
Low supply and high demand for shell cordovan means that things are not cheap. In addition, the tanning process associated with shell cordovan is more powerful than regular leather, further increasing the cost. Compared to calf cusin, shell cordovan can easily be 30 to 50 percent higher. As mentioned earlier, shell cordovan comes from the thickest part of the horse and is hard to stretch.
This makes it significantly more difficult to penetrate than calfskin. Shell cordovan reacts differently to lotions and other forms of leather care, so you need a shell cordovan-specific care product. You can take your shell cordovan shoes to a local shoe shine or shoe shine to fix them, but without the right product, your shoes can be damaged.
In this case, it is safer to do it yourself. However, this requires purchasing more leather care products apart from what you already have seriously , including deer bones. Color 8 is by far the most common color of the shell cordovan available. Shell cordovan is less dye-friendly than other leathers and has a limited range of colors. Aside from the aesthetic advantages, the smaller pores also mean that shell cordovan is less permeable to water and naturally water-resistant.
Over time, even with proper care, repeated creasing can cause leather to crack and rip. Because shell cordovan ripples instead of creasing, it maintains its integrity for much longer. In addition to its durability, shell cordovan also stretches less than other leathers. While other leathers may over-stretch with time, shell cordovan keeps its shape much better, resulting in a better long-term fit.
Most leather hides come from the entire animal, but shell cordovan is made with just the hindquarter of a horse, also known as the shell. Because the materials are limited to this specific region, a single horse yields much less material than a cow.
Typically, a pair of shoes requires about one and a half shells. In addition to limited supply, shell cordovan requires an intense tanning process that can take six months to produce.
The specific skills necessary to tan shell cordovan also mean less tanneries are capable of producing the material. Plus, the tanning process involved with shell cordovan is more intense than typical leathers, adding another layer of cost.
Compared with calfksin, shell cordovan can easily cost percent more. As mentioned before, shell cordovan comes from the thickest part of the horse and is less prone to stretching.
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