Crocodile Leather - Fashion and features of crocodile leather

Crocodile leather. Not much has been said about this exotic leather. Much has been mentioned about the price, luxury, brand names such as Guzzi, Prada, Fendi or any of the famous brands with roots traced back to the expert artisans of Tuscany, Italy. Does anybody remember the crocodile leather Hermes Birkin bag that came out sometime end of the year 2004? That was then and yet the leather bag still looks fabulous. Now the question: what is this crocodile leather?

Descriptions of crocodile leather

The word to describe crocodile leather is exotic. Exotic, as in foreign, alien, uncommon or excitingly strange. We will take the last part, excitingly strange. Crocodile leather is indeed excitingly strange as it's not your normal everyday leather. It's THE LEATHER, with a status symbol. Crocodile leather is expensive. Think in the range of a thousand dollars for a handbag. Crocodile leather is exciting as it arouses the imagination of a ferocious and wild reptile. Even when commercially farmed, the crocodile is still considered dangerous. There is no such thing as a tame crocodile.

There is this appeal, the characteristic that makes crocodile leather desirable. Crocodile leather has a warm feeling to the touch. To achieve that quality, it has to be done right. There are no shortcuts no exemptions. The color and texture of crocodile leather is compared to none other. No matter what color the leather comes in, it still is different, distinct. And everybody likes distinct, unique, DIFFERENT. And talking about different, read on.

The pattern of the scales make the grain of the crocodile leather. Everyone in the leather business knows the quality that determines the leather is the grain. The uniqueness of the skin pattern in crocodile leather. Bear in mind that we are talking about leather, which means skins that come from animals and in this case, skin from the crocodile. As with all nature, no two living things are ever exactly the same, crocodiles included. There may be outstanding similarities such as the pattern of the scales, the distribution of the scales, etc. There will be no two handbags exactly the same, no two purses exactly the same and so on. If you are an owner of an item, say crocodile leather handbag, be very proud, you have THE ONLY ONE handbag.

Crocodile leather is tough yet pliable or can be bent to shape. Durable, as one can find old articles (think vintage) made from crocodile leather. Just for an example, look into ebay for the word "vintage crocodile leather". We have found an item dating well back as far as World War II.

There has been little mentioned about how the crocodile leather became a fashionable item. We used the Internet to find out about the topic. Searching for the keyword "first crocodile leather bag" came up with an article stub: the first mentioning of the item was found in 1837 by a princess.

The crocodile leather industry

The crocodile leather industry is still going strong. We are talking in the value range of 15 million dollars alone for the year 2003. Year in, year out, the famous fashion houses are making various designs from crocodile leather. Some as bold as mixing with other materials on bags or shoes, some making just handles for handbags, or some as leather watch straps for luxurious watches.

There is still a big demand for crocodile leather products and countries and governments saw the value and the opportunity. Australia exports a majority of the crocodile leather and has coordinated resources to support the crocodile leather industry through research programs, regulation and policy implementation to encourage more production of quality crocodile leather.

It should be mentioned that in the recent past crocodile leather demand went on a rise, the crocodile was hunted to near extinction. There are research papers dating in the 1900's proposing conservation of the crocodile. Farming then was the alternative to hunting and has saved the crocodile. Rest assured, all crocodile leather products are from farms and countries that have signed the CITES agreement that enforce strict policies in the capture and processing of crocodile skins. Thailand is proud to be a member of the CITES agreement and strictly enforces its own national polices in cooperation with CITES.

Trivia: Do you know that there are two parts of the crocodile from which the skin is used? It's taken from the back of the crocodile (most of the top) and the other is from the belly.

Requirements for skinning and tanning crocodile leather

Key requirements in the skinning process of crocodile leather are to avoid cutting or nicking the skin and to avoid contact between the carcass meat and the outer surface of the skin. The carcass is placed on the skinning table with the head tied in a plastic bag to prevent contaminating the meat. Cuts determine the quality of the crocodile leather final product, much care is needed in doing the cuts. Payment are based on the width of the belly skin, scale pattern and the absence of abrasions or cuts to the skin. Removing of the remaining meat and fat from inside the skin is done by using high pressured water. After that, the skin drained in the shade for 30 minutes ready for salting. There are two parts of the crocodile that are used to make crocodile leather. One is the top along the back of the crocodile and the other is the belly.

Skins for making crocodile leather are salted and dried for two days to remove excess moisture. Curing the skin in this way aids in preservation from spoilage by micro-organisms. The skins for crocodile leather are rolled (legs and flanks inside) and stacked in Hessian-lined wax cartons or polystyrene cartons. Crocodile skin are stored in a cold room until marketed.

Crocodile leather fashion

Crocodile leather comes in all forms of fashion in accessories such as handbags, purses, wallets and briefcases. There are shoes and boots made of it, too. In our store we have crocodile leather key wallets, together with handbags, purses, wallets, and long wallets.

Crocodile leather is tough therefore much more suitable for accessories such as purses and handbags. So far, there has not been made mention of crocodile leather made into jackets or gloves. The fact that the leather is tough can hinder movement or become awkward and cumbersome.

So if you are looking for leather accessories at a reasonable price, browse our shop. We just might have the right crocodile leather product for you. With every purchase of a leather purse or wallet, we will send it to you in a Thai silk gift box, at no extra cost! It's our way of saying thank you for the purchase of a crocodile leather product.