Argentum means silver in Italian, and the top offering of Antonio Meccariello is called Aurum, gold in Italian. Most people buy Argentum collection to have a taste of Antonio Meccariello shoes.
Let us check this pair.
Unboxing
There is no difference on boxes for Argentum and Aeris, the entry level.
Style 1763, size 5, color black, Chisel 2 should be last.
Opening the lid, the cushioning foam paper is clearly not inserted by Antonio Meccariello.
These red shoe bags have no logo.
The print paper was folded and put aside.
The material and style of this print paper is the same as Silvano Lattanzi’s.
Last
Square chisel toe. I think in terms of the definition of a chisel toe, it is very hard because the place where the dive starts is very close to the head, and then the dive is extremely violent, but the handling of the corners is relatively smooth.
What I like most about the Antonio Meccariello last is that it doesn’t elongate, and the toe is not pointy.
The last of Argentum collection is very sculptural.
Pattern
Cap Toe Balmoral Oxford, with perforated swanneck elements realized next to the laces. As an Italian brand, Antonio Meccariello’s design is very conservative. This is what high-quality shoes should look like.
Construction
Argentum collection is handwelted, but you cannot see the difference without disassembling the shoes, one quick check is to look at the small pits on the midsole.
Stitch density is high, but the actual completion is not very good because the stitches are buried by ill-covered wax.
The combination of the stitches and welt edge finishing makes people even more speechless; I don’t know what to say. Not very quality.
Broken Heel is great.
Fiddleback rather than bevelled.
The waist is very narrow, but what about being narrow? More aggressive.
The outer side of forefoot seems extruded due to the obvious tightening of waist, and this outline is not good-looking.
Leather
I normally don’t evaluate leather quality on new shoes, but this pair has very delicate pores which means it is very promising.
Summary
A square chisel with a very sense of power, maybe the stitches are not perfect, but it does not prevent this from being a very handsome pair of shoes.