Shoe Grades

[tonylumpkin]

Having done my "due diligence" on the matter (I've spent almost two hours searching the forum without an answer), I now ask...What are the differences among the various grades of shoes?
The terms I'm particularly having trouble with are "bench grade, "hand grade" and, I believe I've run across, "custom grade". First off, what is the pecking order here? What's top of the line on down? Does this vary from shoemaker to shoemaker? Is the quality of leather a factor, or is this a reference to construction techniques?

I apologize if I've missed this elsewhere and if that is the case, I'd appreciate being pointed in the right direction.

 

[jjl5000]

Hopefully, someone else will jump in even before I finish this with a more comprehensive answer...

Handgrade is a C&J term for their top of the line ready to wear shoes whereas Benchgrade is a term used by SF members (but not specifically C&J?) to refer to their standard line.

Custom Grade is a Church's term for...everything? I think they once had Master Class as a top line but that was discontinued a while ago.

 

[Roger]

The terms "benchgrade," "hand-made," "custom-made," etc., are all but useless for providing any kind of grading system. As noted by jjl5000, if we consider Crockett & Jones only, they have two lines (or grades) of their shoes--what they would call "regular" grade (but what most forumers call "benchgrade") and Handgrade. So, within the realm of C&J, the two words, "benchgrade" and "Handgrade" have meaning and refer to two different levels of quality, with the Handgrade shoes being of slightly higher quality.

However, the term "benchgrade" is used willy-nilly in shoe ads to the extent that it has no real meaning. Some shoe manufacturers seem to use the term to indicate high quality (I'm not sure just what these makers would call lower quality).

Similarly, the term "hand-made" is, in all but a very few cases, just bumf--signifying absolutely nothing. With very few exceptions (Vass being the best example, along with Lattanzi, Saint Crispin, and a few top-line Italian makers like Sutor Mantellassi and Santoni), RTW shoes are made almost completely by machine. This includes such luminary firms as Edward Green and John Lobb. With Vass, their RTW shoes truly are hand-made, and this may be true also for Lattanzi RTW, what little exists (Iammatt, if you're reading this, please chime in), and Saint Crispin. However, with the others noted above, there is a little handwork applied--even if most of the construction is done by machine.

"Custom Grade" is just more advertising bumf.

So...bottom line: Don't use any term including the word "grade" to evaluate quality. A better--albeit perhaps a little more difficult--system would be in terms of 10-12 shoe-making companies. There have been threads rank-ordering the shoes from these companies, and a search for one of those might help you.