I don't know how the 1900 shoes but I much prefer good leather shoes over sneakers.
Also, watching vids of bespoke shoemaking is satisfying
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Fs3EJmuzAoA
Edit: I recall the shoe company:
Mezlan.com - they don’t make the shoe I had any longer, but the quality of their shoes is top notch for the price.
The big reason though is that I'd much rather have 4 pairs of $100 sneakers than one pair of $400 leather shoes. I get bored of wearing the same shoes and being able to frequently swap them out for new ones is part of the appeal.