There is a saying, almost recognized by everyone, that China has no good leather, if you want good leather, you can only buy European ones.
But even if I buy the same collections from same European tanneries, the quality we got is not as good as the European shoe factories got.
I wonder, is there any good tannery in China?
The answer is a little sad, with the communication with domestic tanneries I found that tanning process is not a big problem, but the raw hide is as delicate as that of calves in Europe.
When it comes to crocodile leather, raw hide is not a problem any more as most come from the several big crocodile farms. We are all at the same starting line.
Crocodile leather, compared to cowhide, has one more dimension, that is, crocodile breeds.
The four species, from high to low, are Porous, Nile, Alligator and the Siamese crocodile.
Nile and Alligator, which is higher has been debated for years. Among Hermes crocodile leather bags, Nile with two-dot mark is higher than Alligator with a square.
However, the size of these two varieties is much different, Nile is a large crocodile, and Alligator is small, so Alligator leather cannot make big bags, perhaps this is the reason why people misunderstand that it is inferior to the Nile crocodile.
How to distinguish each type of crocodile leather, there are a lot of articles on internet. I won’t mention here.
Another dimension is finishing or coating. Aniline dyed leather is the best because it is uncoated. Why is uncoated good? In terms of use, the texture of the leather itself is fully revealed. Why do humans like leather? From ancient times to the present, practicality and durability are important reasons, and secondly, just as we like many natural materials, it is the senses.
From the production side, the ability to not add coating means that raw hide is flawless, which may be picked from many.
As for what the top layer leather, second layer leather, grinded leather, and the more unbearable shiny bookbinder and patent leather, they are completely below. Because these leathers have scars or defects that require surface repair/treatment.
Having talked about so much knowledge, we have to fight in real combat, let’s look at the real thing.
These two skins are placed together, which is good, and which is bad?
The students who have carefully read it above, the answer is too obvious, gray is good skin, green bad skin. Although the green is tender and beautiful, the color wins a lot, but from the leather itself, it is low.
Let’s get closer and see what we can find.
Green, People who don’t know much about crocodile leather will think fine about this green one. Please observe the wrinkles that are not given to the small man, giving people the feeling of floating on the surface, which is the plating.
I don’t mean that there are no creases without plating, but you can see the difference visually.
Look at the gray piece, there are creases, but they are integrated, not floating on the surface.
The flesh side of the leather cannot be distinguished, but the thickly coated leather will be cut thinner, and it is not clear what the purpose of this is.
If inexperienced people feel that they can’t tell the difference by watching, then touch it with your hand, if it is smooth but astringent plastic, it is poor skin, if it is rough, it is good leather.