u/M635_Guy

Link to Order Page: https://www.grantstoneshoes.com/products/chelsea-boot-olive-minerva-box

My Out-of- Box: https://www.reddit.com/r/goodyearwelt/comments/1v8f8fv/preorder\_grant\_stone\_olive\_minerva\_box\_chelsea/

My Album, updated with all my (very similar - sorry) wear pix: https://imgur.com/a/hMQqepH

An unexpected six-day stay in the hospital and recovery after having a gangrenous gall bladder removed put a dent in my opportunities to get some wears in on the Olive Minerva Chelsea boots, but I can say this: After wearing them six or seven times, I’m thrilled with them. Here are my notes:

Comfort

With Grant Stone I’m used to a tiny bit of heel slip for the first wear and having it ‘blend’ to total comfort in the first wear or occasionally in the second. The fit is so good for me with these that comfort was instant and got better over the next several wears. Between the rubber lug sole, the cork/leather/etc. and the last, these are legit sneaker-comfortable.

Leather

The Minerva Box leather is an amazing combo of substantial and supple. I think it’s a big contributor to the comfort: compared to my Dark Oak Roughout pair in the same size the leather feels like it provides a bit more support, but in no way feels binding. This allows the Olive Minerva pair to steal the comfort crown from the Dark Oak pair. As a guy who has a lot of boots, all of which fit me very well, that’s a big hill to jump to the top of.

The leather takes marks pretty well - the ‘lick my thumb and rub the scuff’ has worked every time, and the dye seems pretty deep. None of the marks (I drive a stick, so this isn’t uncommon) showed any natural leather color, and all so far have disappeared. I don’t see any signs of grain creasing yet. It carries a lot of natural flesh character - if this was a smooth leather I think it would present as extremely “bright” while the grain combines darks in the valleys and green in the peaks to offer a more complex (and IMHO beautiful) color that takes advantage of different light. Pretty great.

I’m really curious about how they’ll age/patina, and I’m here for all of it.

Style

I wear these like a mid-brown boot, and use my brown CXL belt with it. This does just fine for me. Denim, any sort of brown or tan pant works. I don’t have a lot of navy/black in my closet that isn’t suiting (which I’d generally pair with darker colors), but I could see it working as long as you really want to show off the boots.

On that note, these have generated more comments from the general public than any pair I’ve worn for years: a guy in line at the grocery store, a lady at the coffee shop I go to, a college kid at the liquor store, and others. One of my best friends is a bit of a boot-nut also, and he was a fan too. It’s sorta like when I drive one of my old BMW’s (https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1280x1024q70/924/cD3lDb.jpg) - it brings out a community that normally wanders by. If you’re an introvert, these might not be for you - lol.

Summary

If you want a great boot that stands out a bit, these are for you. I’m used to wearing green (I have Forest Kudu and Jungle Kangaroo pairs), and feel very comfortable styling them. Green boots are the best kind of fun on St. Patrick’s Day when you’re not wearing anything else green. The color is more versatile than you probably think, and it’s definitely a wink at the world: It’s easy being green. I’m a big fan of the comfort of the GS Chelsea and the pull-on-and-go nature of Chelsea boots in general.

The order page is now live here (https://www.grantstoneshoes.com/products/chelsea-boot-olive-minerva-box). There’s a limited amount of leather available and my understanding is it won’t be back. The site states their typical 16-20 weeks for a pre-order and they’re the same price as the CXL boots. All sizes appear to be open for order.

Wear and enjoy!

(On a side note, barring something truly extraordinary - a whiskey shell Indy boot or a something on that scale, this is likely my last new-boot thing for a long time. I'll do follow ups on my existing collection once in a while. I hope all of these have served the community well!)

Introduction:

Late last year I realized I’d grown to love two styles of boots I thought I didn’t like at the beginning of my journey as a boot guy: the chukka and the Chelsea. It came when I’d ordered a pair of shoes for my eldest spawn, and took the opportunity to order two more pairs for myself—one of each. I posted “An Ode to the Humble Chukka” and promised I’d be back with something about the Chelsea. And here we are.

I love chukkas as a uber-comfy shoe in the Fall and Spring. I tend not to wear them in the Winter as my “real” boots tend to take over, and summer…well, it’s literally 99°F as I write this; I’m hot in my Birks. Anyway, Chelsea boots are a four-season presence in my life. My Keen Targhee II boots are my work boots. I wear them with anything I’m working in and beat the ever-living crap out of them. Not pretty, but fit-for-purpose to be sure - tough, waterproof and surprisingly comfortable. Because they're easy and versatile, these days I also seem to grab and wear one of my two pairs for Grant Stone Chelsea boots almost any time I’m wearing denim or long pants. But I’m getting ahead of myself, or at least my history.

After trying and mis-sizing a pair of new RM Williams Comfort Craftsman (and I didn’t like the squared toe either), my first worn pair of Chelsea boots came to me nine years ago from Beckett Simonon when they asked me to wear and review their new Chelsea offering. I found them to be nicely-made for the price, though a tiny bit narrow for me and a little overly-sleek for my taste. I can’t keep shoes that hurt, so I moved on for a while. Five or so years ago, when Grant Stone first brought out a Chelsea boot, I bought a Crimson CXL pair from their pre-owned program and reviewed them. Over several years I’ve worn them a lot, and late last year added a Dark Oak Roughout pair which have since been worn more than just about anything else I own.

A while back I saw a pair of Grant Stone’s Brass Boots in Olive Minerva Box leather and was instantly mesmerized by the leather. The Brass Boot isn’t my style, but I loved the leather so much I almost bought a pair just for that. I dabbled with the idea of getting a pair of Chelsea boots in that leather from an Indonesian maker but couldn’t quite get through the process.

Then I decided to ask Wyatt at Grant Stone if they had any plans to use that leather for a Chelsea. His response was (essentially) “No, but we do have some Olive Minerva left over…” I dorked around with Gemini AI-edited pix to show him what I was thinking (none of which did justice to what ultimately arrived) and the idea of making a sample pair and doing a preorder quickly came together. I’ll come back to the preorder at the end.

He brought Giovanni, who leads product development, into the conversation and we nailed down the details. They were great about accommodating my desire for a natural edge and lug sole. After that, I waited for a slot in their production, and the sample boots arrived a few weeks ago!

But First, A Bit of Actual History

What we in the boot-nut community would immediately recognize as a Chelsea Boot has existed for nearly 200 years. They were created by Queen Victoria’s personal shoe designer, Joseph Sparkes Hall, to avoid laces for the Queen. Charles Goodyear, the father of the man who would go on to develop the Goodyear Welt Stitcher, invented vulcanized rubber, which enabled the flexible gusset panels that are the distinctive design element of the modern Chelsea, and what makes them so incredibly easy to live with. In other words, there are two generations of Goodyear family innovations in these Chelsea boots. Fun!

A disclaimer and disclosure:

As many of you who’ve been around a while know, I was one of the original reviewers of Grant Stone here on GYW. Since then, I’ve reviewed a number of their shoes and boots - some purchased, some offered to me for review. In this case, I told Wyatt early in the discussions to “invoice me whenever.” When the sample pair shipped, the invoice was zero. In other words, I entered this expecting to pay for them, but he apparently decided differently. As ever, that won’t affect anything I say here - I hope the many reviews here (from lots of brands) offers enough assurance that this is nothing more than my honest thoughts.

With that, let’s get to the details and them out of the box…

Link to the album (these are SLR pix vs my phone pix in this post, and include some 'family' shots)

Makeup and Materials Details:

• Maker: Grant Stone
• Design: Chelsea boot
• Construction: GYW Construction
• Leather: Badalasi Minerva Box in Olive
• Lining: Glove Leather
• Lacing/Hardware: None
• Welt: 360º flat welt with wheeling
• Last: UK last
• Size: 11EE
• Sole: Lug sole
• Sole Edge: Natural
• List price: $435

Out-of-Box Thoughts

Immediate love. I’m pretty sure I said “Wow” out loud a couple times when I pulled the first boot out of the bag.

Design

The pattern is crafted to shoot the gap between the Euro-sleek and Western looks you see in many Chelsea boots. The pattern needed strong lines to avoid looking “blobby” (Giovanni’s word, which I found both funny and highly on-point) but avoiding going too long and too chiseled. The final form is shaped to dress up and way down with ease while avoiding cowboy boot and fashion-boot vibes I don’t prefer. Versatile.

A single fabric pull-tab was chosen for durability (leather pull-tabs can be problematic over time). A front tab can cause awkward pant break, and so it wasn’t chosen for the GS Chelsea. Having lived with single-tab pairs, I personally don’t care about a front tab. The side panels are double-sided gore for long-term durability.

I wanted something more casual than the Crimson CXL pair I had, so the lug sole and natural edge were chosen. These achieve my goals, but with this leather and flat welt I think they can go well into the ‘smart-casual’ realm of styling - far more than my Dark Oak Roughout pair that have the same sole and sole edge. Handy.

Build & Quality

Construction of a Chelsea boot is more challenging than a regular boot. Giovanni, who leads Product Development for Grant Stone, told me that leather Chelsea boots require skilled pre-shaping/crimping at the vamp using heat and sometimes water to avoid wrinkles. Suede/Roughout is apparently more compliant, which is why I'm guessing you see a lot of suede Chelsea boots.

As ever, the build is highly old-school: a full-leather heel counter (relatively rare these days, but critical to fit and comfort IMHO), a steel shank in a cork foot bed, a 3mm leather midsole, leather insole and welt, and Grant Stone’s lug sole. Lifetime quality.

From an craftsmanship perspective, the welt-joins are as tight as anything I’ve ever seen from GS. Stitching was excellent in all areas. I can’t find any details out of place at all. I suppose that’s expected for a sample-build, but is consistent with my other experiences with Grant Stone: they execute very, very well.

Fit / Sizing

These are Grant Stone’s UK last. I’d say it’s a Leo on a diet, but it is apparently a bit longer than Leo (and their Alexander last, per Giovannit) to achieve the desired Chelsea shape. My Brannock sizing is 12D. As mentioned, this pair is 11EE vs. my 11.5D Crimson CXL pair. They’re both comfortable, but I definitely feel the extra width in the EE in a good way without compromised length. The standard sizing guidance is ½ down from Brannock for most folks. In AE’s 5-last I’m an 11.5E. I wear a 11.5D in the Alden’s TruBalance last and 12 D in pretty much anything true-to-size (Alden Hampton, AE 7-last, Florsheim Imperial, Truman Derby, J&M anything). I’m also a 12D in AE’s 511-last (MD Chukka), which is a tiny bit on the narrow side in D, but fits.

Giovanni also noted folks with lower volume or lower insteps can potentially find a good fit a full size down.

I don’t think this last is tricky - my 11.5D pair is great, in line with their ½-down recommendation - but if you are at the edges of volume (either way), consider consulting with the team at GS before ordering. I can’t believe I’m wearing a 11EE, but I’m loving it. I’ve had a couple days of walking around a lot, and several other full-day wears and they were purely comfortable for me.

Final Thoughts

Last August I was laid off, and might be exiting the workforce for good (I’m 57, and planned on retiring at 60), which throws this hobby into an uncertain zone. I’m not sure what shoe or boot I see in my future, and there’s likely a downsizing coming to my closet at some point. Yet these fill both highly-practical and just-plain-want slots for me. I'm genuinely excited to own them. I reach for them absolutely any time I can, and plan on wearing them in pretty much any situation short of yard work. And I think I'm done. As long as I can ignore the Husk Suede pair they came out with after we started all this...

Preorder Details

This will consume the last remaining stocks Grant Stone has of the Olive Minerva leather, so a limited number of pairs will be built. Like their shell pre-orders, each pair will be built to order - no stocked sizes, etc. The price is $435 like the CXL boots. Time from order to delivery is estimated to be 16-20 weeks. The pre-order will open on August 10th, and when they’re out of leather, the window will close.

Here's the link to the pre-order page: https://www.grantstoneshoes.com/products/chelsea-boot-olive-minerva-box

You can sign up there to be notified when the offer window opens.

[Edited for typos and clarity]

Since this is a used pair and I don't have all the details like last, specific leather, etc., I'm going to go a little less-structured than my normal reviews (not to say shorter...).

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I’ve been on a bit of a Chelsea boot kick lately (spoiler alert: there’s more to come on that front next week-ish). So far all the Chelsea boots I’ve kept are from Grant Stone and I’m happy in all respects with them. Over the years I’ve cycled through my fair share of Chelsea boots—including several from RM Williams and a pair from Beckett Simonon—but they’ve all moved on due to sizing struggles. I’m putting my RMW aspirations on pause until I can get properly fitted in-store..

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I was scanning eBay when their algorithm suggested a pair of Sid Mashburn Chelsea boots. They checked all the right boxes: Not too square and not too Euro-sleek. Made in England. Leather soles (I like leather soles). And a lovely bitter choco suede that I've been chasing in RMW. I let them simmer for a few days, but eventually pulled the trigger.

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They took a while to ship, and arrived a bit box-rashed. The seller assured me they’d fit a Brannock 12D, and thankfully they seem to. The last feels pretty tailored - the closest I can say is similar to Alden’s Plaza last from my Dr. Jones boots: form-fitting, fairly generous at the heel and ball areas but somewhat tapered everywhere else. In person they present a bit more Euro-sleek than in the pix, but I’m actually OK with it.

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Materials seem fine. In-hand the suede had a very nice feel to it - thin, but dense and substantial. Because of the box-rash and some areas on the body and heels that looked a bit dusty/light, I gave them a quick pass with Saphir’s “Omni'Nettoyant” suede shampoo (I’m on my second bottle of this stuff - works great). The suede seemed to take a bit more water than I was expecting, so I spent some extra time blotting them dry. They looked pretty even just after, and looking at them just now six hours later the dusty bits and box-rash appear to be gone. I’ll brush ‘em and hit them with some Saphir suede conditioner in the next day or so.

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They have a very minimal storm welt, which bridges the flat welt I see on so many Chelsea boots and yet avoids coming across too casual. I can see myself wearing these with everything from denim to slacks.

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These say “Made in England” on the heel pad in the boot, and say “Benchmade in England” on the sole. Current versions of this on the Sid Mashburn site lists them for $550 and says they’re made in Spain, so I’m guessing these are an older pair.

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They’re Goodyear Welt construction, but I’d be interested to know if “benchmade” has any significance beyond marketing. They have two tabs, which I thought I’d like but aren’t as functional as I thought. Maybe I’m just used to the single tab of my Grant Stones. They have a bit of a ‘stripe’ I see on a lot of Chelseas, which I’ve heard has something to do with the lasting, especially on wholecuts (which these aren’t).

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I’m looking forward to wearing these a bit. They’ll be pretty firmly on the more-casual side since I might be retired (though involuntarily, so we’ll see), and I'm sure they'll be just fine. :)

...but always sell to forget to take pix.

I wear these Dark Oak Roughout Chelsea boots like sneakers - comfortably and often. Really enjoying them, and having a bit of an affair with easy boots these days: chukkas and Chelseas...