Why is crocodile so expensive? - Page 2

Much to my shagreen.

Yes!!!

Of course!

Admittedly, I'm a fan of the leather when it's of good quality and well executed.

that was a good one

No disrespect intended but that's just simply nonsense. Crocodile is farm raised in the Philippines, Australia, and in S. Africa and Zimbabwe. American Alligator is farm raised in Louisiana, Georgia and Florida.

Japan sells more than Detroit?

Not considering quality, is Mezlan the largest exotic skin shoe manufacturer?

This explanation makes my Hermes Jacket that much more satisfying.

Yep DWFII is right. Crocs are reared in farms where they get big and fat. I have seen some who are decades of years old and are equivalent to 2 grown men in size. But not all are killed at that size. Some are killed when they are younger because their scales are of a certain size to be used for certain products. I suspect some crocodiles are kept isolated because fighting among crocs can lead to their scales being damaged and will not be so perfect anymore.

Hunting crocs so they can be used for handbags would probably jack up the price to 3 times what the ladies are paying now.

People go cow tipping for fun.......Try that with a croc. That should be all you need to know.

I thought a lot of the supply was controlled by one company which dictated pricing, non?

An alligator or crocodile ("croc") must be between five and eight years of age to be large enough to produce a skin suitable for making a handbag (for example). Depending on the size and quality of the handbag, the larger the size of the skin (cheap croc bags are made from assorted pieces of croc, expensive handbags are made from two or three skins rather than a ton of little pieces). Same with shoes and belts. The animal must be kept isolated from other animals as they have a tendency to fight and no one buys croc skin with holes and tears in it. For this five to eight years the crocs must be fed and cared for. This is only the beginning of the process. A Patek Philippe watchband or an Hermes belt bears little resemblance to the skin in the initial process. Additionally, the most sought after portion of the croc is the belly, the back being spiny and tough. Below are two highly informative articles. FYI: Heng Long is one of the suppliers of skins to some of the most prestigious brands in the world (Hermes, Patek, Prada, Testoni...) and is based in Singapore. Wholesale skins are quite expensive and there are numerous grades of skin quality (one of the reasons a Nancy Gonzalez croc handbag is relatively inexpensive compared with say Hermes or Botega Veneta). It is not true that Porosus is better than Niloticus, as Hermes (or their customers) would like you to believe. They are simply two difference species of croc. The price difference between the two, at wholesale, is negligible (although Hermes charges a premium for Porosus- more Hermes Kool Aid?). Someone previously noted that Hermes was selling a croc jacket in the $75K range...but that is only half as much as one they had in their shops a few years ago (a blazer, so it used more and larger skins). It seems that there is not enough croc to go around, and this drives up the price of the skins. PPR (the conglomerate that owns Gucci), for example, owns their own tannery but still must purchase additional skins from other tanneries (there are five croc tanneries worldwide) to satisfy its needs. Hermes owns a croc farm in Australia yet still purchases from other tanneries (Heng Long being their primary source as it is widely considered the industry leader). http://www.nextinsight.biz/index2.php?option=com_content&task=emailform&id=727&itemid=60 http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...g=content;col1

Best follow up of 2010

I heard of Hermes owning a croc farm in Australia to corner their own supply for Porosus as well. I wonder do they keep each of them in a pen, like cattle and feed them so they can grow big and fat and they wont get scars from fights with other crocs.

Saw some Porosus skin products from Hermes on the net. The scales seems nicer than the other type of Croc skin products I own, but no way I am paying a premium.

I think its Bobby Tonello's book where he mentioned seeing a 100 k jacket in a Hermes boutique. He was flabbergasted and this is coming from a guy who buys branded goods like Pradas, Armani, John Lobbs etc.