Why is crocodile so expensive?

I've got some Stemar Croc card holders on my shop at the moment which retail for £975 ($1500). They're only small. What would have been the cost to produce that do you think? The markup must be ridiculous?!

Originally Posted by StephenStyle

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I've got some Stemar Croc card holders on my shop at the moment which retail for £975 ($1500). They're only small. What would have been the cost to produce that do you think? The markup must be ridiculous?!

Even for Grade A Croc skin (the cream of the crop), and you get to choose which part of the Grade A Croc skin you want to make the card holder and every part of the card holder uses the Grade A Croc skin of your choice and the artisan spends his entire day painstakingly and meticulously doing it for you and redoing it for you even for the tiniest flaws you cannot see (and wastes some Grade A Croc skin) and another few rounds of quality control, I say $400 is very generous.

But if you want a unique colour, thats a different issue because they cannot dye one skin just for you. Dark green is not a unique colour I would think.

Originally Posted by StephenStyle

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I've got some Stemar Croc card holders on my shop at the moment which retail for £975 ($1500). They're only small. What would have been the cost to produce that do you think? The markup must be ridiculous?!

That is totally insane. Check out this site, they specialize in exotics and they make that exact cc holder...and it's $200.

http://www.alexandraknightonline.com/

click on Collections/Mens

Originally Posted by Advent

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That is totally insane. Check out this site, they specialize in exotics and they make that exact cc holder...and it's $200.

http://www.alexandraknightonline.com/

click on Collections/Mens

Can't see it in there but see some similar size items with similar skins. Can't believe they have the front to charge nearly £1k for a card holder...

Originally Posted by Advent

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That is totally insane. Check out this site, they specialize in exotics and they make that exact cc holder...and it's $200.

http://www.alexandraknightonline.com/

click on Collections/Mens

Actually I think that's Alligator - not Croc.

Originally Posted by StephenStyle

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Actually I think that's Alligator - not Croc.

It's the same thing (price wise).

Originally Posted by Advent

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It's the same thing (price wise).

Well you learn something every day. I always thought Croc was more expensive than alligator for some reason.

Originally Posted by StephenStyle

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Well you learn something every day. I always thought Croc was more expensive than alligator for some reason.

No, essentially all the same. There are different grades of each though, several actually, and that has a large impact on the price. The grade that a company like Hermes, BV, Patek, etc, uses is the highest grade and quite costly. There is a huge price difference between that grade and say the grade that Nancy Gonzalez or Mezlan uses.

Check this out:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=170550410727

that is inexpensive croc (or alligator)...all that veining is what you don't want.

then check this out (no veins, bold definitive scales):

I have a coat made from guanaco/vicuna/silk/cashmere blend from Brioni. In it, the pockets are trimmed with crocodile, buttons made from Siberian mammoth bones, and it's canvassed with pinseal.

Originally Posted by Advent

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Check this out:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=170550410727

that is inexpensive croc (or alligator)...all that veining is what you don't want.

then check this out (no veins, bold definitive scales):

You mean the veining between the scales? Interesting - I'll check those wallets out when I get to work.

Originally Posted by Pantisocrat

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I have a coat made from guanaco/vicuna/silk/cashmere blend from Brioni. In it, the pockets are trimmed with crocodile, buttons made from Siberian mammoth bones, and it's canvassed with pinseal.

Dunhill made Mammoth bone cufflinks if I remember correctly...

Originally Posted by StephenStyle

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What would have been the cost to produce that do you think? The markup must be ridiculous?!

Here is a retailer of exotic leathers. They also list the prices for the various skins:

http://www.kezie.com/home

Originally Posted by Jangofett

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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.
Seeing one at Hermes for $76,800 left me flabbergasted. It was nice though, although the guard didn't appreciate me touching it. He glared at me, and I glared at him back.

Originally Posted by Advent

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Check this out: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170550410727 that is inexpensive croc (or alligator)...all that veining is what you don't want. then check this out (no veins, bold definitive scales):

Sorry, but I have to disagree. The shoes are taken from the flanks or near the underside of the shoulders. The "veining" you reference is actually just the interstices between the tiles...like the creases between the joints of your fingers. When making any alligator or crocodile product the rounder tiles and the smaller tiles are considered the premium part of the skin...simply because the leather is far more supple in those areas than elsewhere. Square/rectangular tiles, particularly with a very distinct and regular and wide crease between even rows of tiles, almost invariably come from the tail. This part of the hide is considered coarse (both functionally and aesthetically--visually, IOW) and while still good leather (especially for wallets and belts) would never be used by a bespoke shoemaker, for instance, for any number of reasons. Chief among them is that that tail is stiffer, cracks more readily in the creases, and last but not least, is boring.

Originally Posted by JayJay

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Seeing one at Hermes for $76,800 left me flabbergasted. It was nice though, although the guard didn't appreciate me touching it. He glared at me, and I glared at him back.

Thats the spirit. I see no reason why a customer cant touch the jacket if its not encased in glass.

On a similar note, I touched a 1.5 grand brown Gucci Croc belt. Made of Croc side skin I think. It was very wide with the interlocking silver G buckle. No SA or guard bothered me while I was defiling it with my grimy fingerprints.

In continuing the spirit of this thread, a similar belt elsewhere would cost $300 and the maker would probably throw in a fake G buckle from China for free. I dont know how much would Hermes charge for a similar belt though.