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Saphir Médaille d'Or shoe polish colour guide

Polishing time:

N/A

Difficulty:

Beginners

Introduction

Shoe polish will almost never exactly match the colour of your shoes. Even though your shoes are made and branded the colour ‘Cognac’ there are still many interpretations of what the colour needs to look like. This guide will mostly refer to Saphir Médaille d’Or Pommadier shoe creams, but also apply to Saphir Pate de Luxe shoe wax and Saphir crème Surfine since they all use the same colour numbering and naming.

How to choose a colour

Neutral or coloured shoe polish? 

If you're unsure about which shoe polish colour to pick, a neutral shoe cream or shoe wax is often the easiest and safest option. It nourishes the leather while keeping the original colour of your shoes intact. That said, a coloured polish can be really useful too. Over time, leather can lose some of its vibrancy, and that's when a matching shoe cream helps bring the colour back to life. It’s also handy for covering up scuffs and scratches (more on that below).

Make sure to choose the right colour, as a coloured shoe polish will recolor the leather. This is a gradual process, since only about 10% of the pigment in the cream remains on the shoes, so don’t worry about your shoes suddenly changing colour. Sometimes, a colour change is actually desired, in which case you’ll need to polish a bit more frequently. For optimal results during regular maintenance, we recommend alternating between a neutral cream and a pigmented shoe cream.

One exception: For black shoes, we advise using only black shoe cream and wax.

Getting rid of scratches

To camouflage scratches or any deep cuts into the leather we recommend using a coloured Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier shoe cream and Saphir Médaille d'Or Pate de Luxe wax. Also, using a neutral or colourless polish for a long period of time can cause the colour of your shoes to fade a bit so alternating between a neutral and a coloured shoe polish is recommended. If you are doubting between two shades we  recommend picking the one that is slightly darker than the colour of your shoes. A Pommadier cream that is slightly darker than your shoes does a better job at masking scratches and restoring faded colour.

Colour guide

01. Black

Products available in this colour:

Almost all Saphir products are available in this colour. Among some of the the most popular products:

• Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream
• Pate de Luxe shoe wax
• Mirror Gloss shoe wax

For black shoes we recommend using only black colour shoe polishes (Saphir Renovateur excluded)

02. Neutral

Products available in this colour:

Almost all Saphir products are available in this colour. Among some of the the most popular products:

• Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream
• Pate de Luxe shoe wax
• Mirror Gloss shoe wax

Neutral shoe cream and shoe wax is suitable for all colour shoes except black shoes. A practical choice if you want to treat many different colour shoes.

03. Light brown

Products available in this colour:

Almost all Saphir products are available in this colour. Among some of the the most popular products:

• Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream
• Pate de Luxe shoe wax
• Mirror Gloss shoe wax

Colour matched with:

- Allen Edmonds Walnut | Light brown
- Crockett & Jones Tan Burnished Calf | Light brown

This is the lightest shade of brown in the Saphir Médaille d'Or assortment. Suited for light brown shoes, but sometimes also works for more yellow-ish shades of tan.

04. Brown

This colour is available for products:

• Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream

A basic colour to have in your shoe shine set. Just a shade darker than 37 medium brown, but less warm therefore suitable for a wide range of brown coloured shoes.

05. Dark brown

Products available in this colour:

Almost all Saphir products are available in this colour. Among some of the the most popular products:

• Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream
• Pate de Luxe shoe wax
• Mirror Gloss shoe wax

This is the darkest shade of brown in the Saphir Médaille d'Or colour range. Some shoe brands tend to call this colour espresso. In most cases this is the colour you want to use to give or maintain the dark brown patina on your toe caps.

06. Dark blue / Navy blue

Products available in this colour:

Almost all Saphir products are available in this colour. Among some of the the most popular products:

• Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream
• Pate de Luxe shoe wax
• Mirror Gloss shoe wax

A very dark blue which would almost make you think it is black when looking at it in the jar. Perfect to recolour your dark blue shoes with. The more creative among us sometimes use Pate de Luxe in this colour to create a dark blue glossy finish.

07. Saphir blue

This colour is available for products:

• Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream

A bright and playful shade of blue and Saphir's brand colour.

08. Burgundy

Products available in this colour:

Almost all Saphir products are available in this colour. Among some of the the most popular products:

• Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream
• Pate de Luxe shoe wax
• Mirror Gloss shoe wax

Colour matched with:

- Loake strand | Burgundy

A warm burgundy colour for all your burgundy coloured shoes.

09. Mahogany

This colour is available for products:

• Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream
• Pate de Luxe shoe wax

Colour matched with:

- Loake Aldwych | Mahogany
- Crockett & Jones Chestnut Burnished Calf | Mahogany

A shade of brown that leans more towards red than any brown shade. The go to colour for all your mahogany coloured shoes.

10. Cognac

This colour is available for products:

• Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream
• Pate de Luxe shoe wax

Colour matched with:

- Crockett & Jones Chestnut Antiqued Calf | Cognac

Possibly one of the most loved and most controversial colours here in The Netherlands. Light cognact might be better matched with 03 light brown instead. A nice warm shade of cognac.

11. Red

This colour is available for products:

• Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream
• Pate de Luxe shoe wax

This bright red colour by Saphir Médaille d'Or is similar to the shade of red Christian Laboutin uses for their leather soles. Suited for the more playfull shoes.

12. Hermes red

This colour is available for products:

• Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream

A more distinguished shade of red available only in the Pommadier shoe cream. Also suited for oxblood shoes.

14. Grey

This colour is available for products:

• Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream
• Pate de Luxe shoe wax

A versatile shade of grey by Saphir Médaille d'Or. Perfect for all your light grey shoes.

15. Dark grey

This colour is available for products:

• Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream

A versatile shade of grey by Saphir Médaille d'Or. Perfect for all your dark grey shoes.

16. Beige

This colour is available for products:

• Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream

16. beige is suitable for all your beige and camel coloured leather shoes. Leathers in these lighter shades are suseptible to staining so be sure to do a little test on the shoes first. This colour makes it possible to recolour even these lighter coloured leathers.

20. Dark green

This colour is available for products:

• Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream

A beautiful dark green shade also often refferred to as forest green or bottle green.

21. White

This colour is available for products:

• Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream

With this white shoe cream you can colour yellowed white leather white(r). Please note that shoe cream isn't a paint or a dye and will only colour the leather slightly per application.

34. Tobacco brown

This colour is available for products:

• Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream
• Pate de Luxe shoe wax

Colour matched with:

- Crockett & Jones Connaught 2 | Dark brown burnished calf
- Loake Cannon | Dark Brown

Tobacco brown AKA havane by Saphir Médaille d'Or is most suited for shoes labeled as dark brown. This shade of brown is less dark and a little warmer than 05. Dark brown.

37. Medium brown

Products available in this colour:

Almost all Saphir products are available in this colour. Among some of the the most popular products:

• Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream
• Pate de Luxe shoe wax
• Mirror Gloss shoe wax

Colour matched with:

Loake Buckingham | Brown

This shade of brown is available for almost all products. The colour probably makes you think of milk chocolate the most.

38. Hazelnut

This colour is available for products:

• Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream

A beautiful shade of brown suited for hazelnut brown shoes. A colour often used to dye shoes with.

39. Natural leather

This colour is available for products:

• Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream

The colour of vegetable tanned leather.

46. Petrol blue

This colour is available for products:

• Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream

A pretty shade of dark blue that reminds us of a dark blue pair of jeans.

87. Plum

This colour is available for products:

• Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream

This colour is similar to 08 Burgundy, but has more purple mixed in than red.

89. Cherry red

This colour is available for products:

• Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream

A slightly more grown up version of 11 Red. Less bright and outspoken and therefore also has more usecases.

910. Parisian brown

This colour is available for products:

• Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream

Colour matched with:

- Edward Green Chelsea | Dark oak antique

- Crockett & Jones Connaught | Dark brown burnished calf

Slightly darker than 34 Tobacco brown, but slightly lighter than 05 dark brown this colour falls right in between. Parisian brown is slightly cooler in colour almost like it contains just a splash of grey.

917. Light hazelnut

This colour is available for products:

• Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream

A light hazelnut colour. Close to 10 cognac, but less warm in it's colour. (Less orange)

Basic shoe care guide

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