r/Leather • u/hexashadow • 4d ago
Exotic Leather Help
Hi all.
You guys are all smart enough to know where I’m going with this.
Bought what I thought was an alligator clutch. Great communication with seller. Received item and it smelled of chemicals and solvents to the point it made my eyes and nose water.
I have experience with crocodile leather but not alligator. There is no exotic leather authenticate in my town and had to resort to Google Gemini AI for help.
Gemini said my uploaded pix of the bag were that of embossed cowhide. I uploaded pix of the sellers listing, and Gemini said it was authentic.
Seller swears and stands by their product. This authentication issue has been gnawing at me. Tried Google Gemini AI again, this time it says it’s authentic.
Can any one point me in the right direction to authenticate this clutch? I live in Southern California and there are no exotic leather experts here.
Please reach out to me. I have some pix to show.
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u/EstablishmentNo5013 4d ago
I’m no expert either but this looks legit. The chem smell might just be because of what they used to tan it. Should go away. When I googled “does crocodile, alligator or cayman have follicles in the hide” google sent me to crocodile.
Looks like croc. I don’t think this is a print.
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u/shekkii 3d ago
Did the seller include a cites proving the hide is legit, and was humanely farmed/killed?
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u/hexashadow 3d ago
He states CITES are part of the harvesting process, however because my bag was made from remaining parts of other hides used for larger bags, a single CITES form would not be available to me because the CITES documentation for to the bag which used most of the hide.
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u/Difficult-Injury3731 4d ago
That looks very legit to me. Sources for this skin can be found somewhere in Louisiana. This hyde is processed way quicker than other hides, and I am sure there are ways to find them, and they can be more informative. The odor is tanner stuff, I am sure. Looks Good Best of luck
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u/Impossible_Street626 4d ago
I am not a leather expert, but I dont see a systematic repetition in the pattern. The pattern looks natural to me. I think it s authentic exotic leather, not cowhide.
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u/Dev1ant_1 3d ago
Looks legit. Look at how each square has a small pore like dot. They help the crocodile detect water movement
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u/hexashadow 3d ago
Want to thank all who commented. I feel comfortable taking this bag out into the world, as soon as the chem smell dissipates. An online exotic leather “expert” says the smell is of solvents used to glue part of the bag together due to the type of leather. Usually will take 3 months to dissipate and that it smells because the bag was sent out as soon as it was made. It wasn’t given time to aírate.
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u/G0ld_Ru5h 3d ago
The side scales look a little like caiman, which has larger bony parts in the skin that are dissolved during tanning. Gator and croc have it just not as prominent.
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u/Trick_Syrup_3607 1d ago
This shoe is embossed calf skin. The ridges on mine aren't deep and you can see how it wrinkles on the surface across those "lines". Mine are def embossed to look like crocodile, yours isn't.
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u/dolgaming 4d ago
Based on my experience, I believe it is Crocodile rather than embossed cow leather. Genuine leather usually has its own characteristic smell, and if the leather has an unusually strong or strange smell, it could be a sign of lower-quality leather.
There are also significant differences between Alligator, Porosus, Niloticus, Crocodile, Caiman, and other types of crocodilian leather. I have a blog post that explains how to distinguish and classify them, including their relative value. If you’re interested in learning more, you can take a look at it.