Anyone familiar with Crockett & Jones’s rich heritage will appreciate that people have long worn its footwear all around the world. Over the past century, its export market grew to include some of the remotest parts of the globe, attesting to its shoes’ versatility and desirability everywhere. Not only were its boots taken on such ventures as Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance Expedition to Antarctica in 1914, they have also found favour more recently with James Bond himself. In Skyfall (2012), 007’s dashing looks in Istanbul and Shanghai are enhanced in no small part by the brand’s Tetbury chukka boots, plus he sports three other styles elsewhere in the film. C&J shoes also have cameos in Spectre (2015) and No Time to Die (2021).

One imagines the costume designers considering that penchant for the finer things in life held by Ian Fleming’s protagonist, but also the fact that Crockett & Jones shoes are built for longevity. The brand is, after all, renowned for constructing Goodyear-welted shoes that can later be stripped down without compromising their parts. The shoes can be rewelted, resoled, reheeled, cleaned and polished by its in-house repairs department. With service lives that can be extended like this, Crockett & Jones shoes make the perfect travel companions, helping you look and feel sophisticated, while minimising the risk of putting a foot wrong should you encounter something intriguing off the beaten track or feel inclined to take a stroll after a fancy meal out.

In search of inspiration for two new styles for spring/summer 2024, Crockett & Jones ventured from its Northampton HQ to Croatia, where quaint fishing harbours are microcosms of all those coastal scenes around the world marked by harmonious bursts of colour. Here, gently bobbing boats share white and earthy tones with stone paths and charming façades, while azure skies, turquoise waters, pastel roofscapes and the greenery which festoons the local architecture all offer inspiration.

The landscape clearly made an impression on the team given the beautiful new styles they have since developed – namely, the Falmouth and the Bibury, which share a brand-new rubber wedge sole. This comes in a classic boat style and is marked by the usual benefits of rubber, being slip and water resistant, but the wedge – that slope between the front of the sole and the heel – has also been designed to optimise not only comfort and flexibility but durability and grip – qualities amply tested at Crockett & Jones’s Perry Street factory, where the teak floorboards once covered the decks of ships.

A stunning interpretation of summer boat shoes that does away with their 360° lacing, the Falmouth is a hybrid between a loafer and a Derby and has been designed with a focus on creating the perfect fit. It features similar characteristics to the brand’s bestselling Boston and Harvard loafers, additional adjustment from double-stacked leather lacing, and the 376 last, which was made for well-fitting, unlined loafers. And it is available in colourways to help you immerse yourself in the warmer climes you visit: Khaki suede, Ocean suede and Tan wax calf.

Then there is the Bibury, a relaxed update on the now James Bond-esque chukka, one of the brand’s most popular shoes. Gorgeous facing in either Snuff suede or Earth Green suede transitions smoothly into a butted seam apron. It uses the 378 last, which results in the roomy, slightly heavier shoes currently in fashion. And they look so sophisticated, they would suit even the most formal of professional environments after the jet-setting is over.

New styles from Crockett & Jones’s spring/ summer 2024 collection are launching online and in-store throughout this month. Bibury shoe and suede Falmouth, £470; wax calf Falmouth, £530; crockettandjones.com