Crocodile embossed leather
The croco or crocodile (sometimes called also "mock-croc") embossed leather hide is a particular material, normally of bovine or ovine origin, printed and finished with the aim of obtaining a look that is similar to the genuine reptile skin. The reasons for which such a type of finishing is used are mainly three:
- The first of an economic nature: printed hides are much cheaper than real reptile hides.
- The second concerns the ease of use: the printed leather is wider and has fewer defects than genuine reptile leather.
- Finally an ethical motivation: cowhides are a recycled material, animals are not bred for their coat, but for the food industry, unlike real reptile skins.
As regards the printing (or embossing) process, special presses are used on which different plates are mounted to impress a design with the help of the heat. The natural crocodile or alligator skins are very similar to each other and this effect is amplified in the case of the embossed (or printed) skins, since standard plates are used for every skin.
Genuine Crocodile leather
Genuine (or real) crocodile or alligator leather as well as being much more expensive and limited in terms of availability compared to printed cowhide, also presents ethical and management problems; in particular with regard to the certificates necessary for trade and production (CITES). Exotic genuine leather is softer and more luxurious to the touch than the printed one, but it is also more delicate. The skins most imitated by the bovine counterparts are precisely those that are the most expensive; on the other hand, very rare leathers are printed with a caiman effect, since, among exotic skins, they are the least expensive and, consequently, the least artificially reproduced.
crocodile embossed leather
genuine crocodile leather
How to distinguish the various types of crocodile printed leather hides
One way to recognize the type of animal reproduced consists in checking the different shape of the scales. Crocodile and alligator scales are rounded and squared irregularly, have a rather elegant and polished appearance than the scales that characterized caiman's skin, which
When genuine crocodile leather is used to produce a bag, the parts coming from the belly and hips of the animal are used and these are the parts reproduced by the stamping presses.
Crocodile or alligator printed leather hides?
There are small differences in the shape of the scales of these two reptiles. In the alligator, the transition from the wider and squared scales of the belly to the more rotund and smaller scales of the hips happens in a more sudden way than in the crocodile, where the transition is more gradual, with some
The umbilical scar (a star with an elongated shape located between the belly's scales) distinguishes the alligator and this feature gets always reproduced in the stamping since it confers distinction and value to the hides.
Finally, every scale of the crocodile skin has a pore, a unique feature because differently from the alligators and caimans, crocodiles have hairs on their bodies, which are lost in the tanning phase and at their place the pores become visible.
Where to buy Crocodile embossed leather?
The imitation crocodile leather, that is the printed (or embossed) one, is present in our online catalog in the dedicated category:
- crocodile embossed leather, in case you need a large size and a precise color;
- or in scraps and remnants of crocodile printed leather, sold per kilo with an even more advantageous price, if you are aiming for saving money.
Where to buy genuine crocodile or alligator leather?
If instead you are looking for genuine leather, then you will find it for sale on the specific product page: genuine crocodile leather for sale online.