Leather Chukka Boots

I’ve waited 3 weeks before reviewing in order to wear in the boots and check how they look after polishing. Generally, I’m pleased with the boots, but... Good quality uppers, supple yet tough leather with nice finish – which has retained appearance well. Good depth in the flexible sole, with excellent grip. Smart design, well-stitched. But M&S’ photos don’t show sufficiently clearly that the heel has a ‘layer’ of brown in this ‘black’ boot. The description on the website refers only to a ‘layered heel’, not that it has layers of black, brown, and grey. The layer of brown was concealed under black polish when I received the boots. I was surprised to find this 1 cm -deep brown layer upon cleaning the boots. The boots can only be ordered online, so aren’t available for inspection in-store. I didn’t want brown, certainly the prominent brown revealed after cleaning, in the boot’s heel but otherwise liked the boots, so covered the brown layer with two coats of permanent ink using a wide-nibbed pen, then wiped over this with a cotton pad sprayed with some WD40 to take the metallic sheen off the dried ink. I then polished the boots (also lightly polishing and buffing the sides of the heel). This has left a blacker appearance all-around appearance on the heel. The boots have polished up well.