My bespoke Himalayan Crocodile Bag #bespoke

As everyone knows, the most expensive bags in the world are sold at auction, and the records are held by Hermès bags made from Himalayan crocodile skin.

“Himalaya” is simply the name of the Hermès color for this particular combination of white, beige, and gray. It is meant to evoke snowy mountains, which is the only reason Himalaya comes into the equation here. Apparently, light colors and shade transitions are particularly difficult and time-consuming to create. Light colors are especially hard to achieve on crocodile, so getting this shade requires considerable skill from the tanner, as the natural color must be completely removed.

The most expensive bags in the world

Originally, the Himalaya-colored Niloticus crocodile was only available for the Birkin model, but now both Birkin and Kelly are offered in Himalaya crocodile, in very limited quantities. You have to be a super VIP at Hermès to be offered one of these bags.

The Himalaya crocodile Kelly was sold at auction for over $437,000. This model contains no diamonds, but the Kelly Himalaya is an extremely rare model in white and beige crocodile skin, rarer than the Birkin Himalaya.

Our Hong Kong Handbags & Accessories autumn auction achieved US$5,942,915. A Hermès Himalaya Kelly 25 sold for US$437,330, establishing a #WorldAuctionRecord for a Handbag pic.twitter.com/DJ7t1CPJG6

— Christie’s (@ChristiesInc) November 27, 2020

The Himalaya crocodile Birkin was sold at auction for $380,000. The bag is decorated with metal parts set with 245 F-color diamonds, totaling over 10 carats. While the estimate was between $190,000 and $260,000, the bag went for $380,000.

CITES & OIE

At first, I just wanted to look into it to find out whether or not the raw material is expensive, and if so, how much. But the more I looked into it, the more interesting I found it, and I ended up buying a skin to make a small bag. I had to buy a whole crocodile, and I’ll explain why.

Before you call me a savage or report me to PETA, you should know that the trade in so-called exotic leathers (alligator, crocodile, lizard, elephant…) is extremely regulated and governed by CITES and OIE.

All leathers sold or purchased are declared to CITES, and you need an import/export certificate to do so.

All this to say that there is no risk of coming across an extremely rare endangered crocodile.

The Nile crocodile is on CITES Appendix 2, so it benefits from more flexible conditions than the Porosus crocodile on Appendix 1.
This also gives you an idea: which species is rarer than others/which needs protection.

You should know that the US prohibits the import of Porosus crocodile skins. Americans mainly export alligator leathers.

However, if you travel with a crocodile bag in Europe or the US, there’s no problem (you’re allowed up to 4 items per person). Here we’re only talking about professional import/export.

The leather industry directly contributes to the conservation of crocodiles and alligators. Previously, in the wild, 95% of eggs would never become reptiles due to natural causes. Here, farmers commit to collecting all the eggs, caring for them, and then releasing 10% into the wild. Thus, alligators, which were endangered in the 70s, are no longer threatened at all.

There is no demand for wild crocodile skins because they fight a lot and damage their skin, whereas farmed crocodiles are fed and fight less.

I’ve already been to several crocodile farms, and it’s always super impressive.

Alligators are territorial and can’t stand captivity, so they are always in huge farms, almost like in the wild.

The notable difference between crocodile leather and alligator leather is the presence of these small dots, like pores for the crocodile.

Admittedly, the skin is what interests farmers the most, but crocodile and alligator meat is recovered and sold in countries where people are used to eating it. In Australia for instance, kangaroo and crocodile meat is even sold at the supermarket. These meats are less fatty, have more protein, and are tasty as well.

As for the way the animals are killed, you can imagine that with such a fierce animal (especially the Nile crocodile, which is very aggressive), the methods are very quick and efficient, minimizing suffering & ensuring employee safety too.

Choosing your leather craftsman well

Himalayan crocodile is a matte leather. Easier to work with than a shiny leather. Shiny crocodile is very bling bling, but know that to achieve such an effect, the tannery has struggled, and the artisan working on it has struggled too.

Plain crocodile is a difficult material to work with. Inexperienced leather craftsmen usually don’t dare touch it, especially when it comes to a bag, because the stakes are too high.

At Hermès, they wear gloves when working with crocodile leather and cover it in plastic to avoid any accidents. They don’t even dare sneeze.

This leather is not only expensive but also to protect every time it rains. So if it rains, I have to protect my bag before protecting myself. Water stains on crocodile skin are irreversible.

Working with himalayan crocodile is even more difficult because of the color contrasts. You have to cut the skin in such a way that it’s perfectly symmetrical and absolutely incorporates all the color nuances. Thus, it’s not enough to buy a 50cm wide skin if the bag is only 20cm wide. Unlike cow or lamb leathers, each skin purchased is considered, and you have in mind the project corresponding to that specific skin.

This time, I called on my usual leather craftsman, Jabee. Here’s one of his crocodile projects.

The price

So why do I need to buy a whole crocodile in my case?

The most used part for himalayan crocodile is the belly.

If I only buy that part, the supplier will have a hard time reselling the rest. And it costs a lot, so he’d lose money.
For other crocodile leathers, there’s no color contrast, so it’s easier to split the skin in two and sell it to two different people. For example, to make a belt, the craftsman will just buy the tail.

The price is calculated in cm meaning the supplier will measure the widest part of the crocodile. In my case, it’s 31cm. And he’ll calculate the total price = price per cm x width in cm.

The price per cm depends on the quality of the leather and the rarity of the crocodile. There are grades 1, 2, 3, 4… and it’s the tanner who will tell you exactly the rate for each skin. A large crocodile is rarer/more expensive than a small one, so a 60cm wide himalayan crocodile skin will cost more. Skins of category 1/2 cost several thousand euros.

Here are the tanneries I consulted.

Henglong Tannery – Singapore

Henglong is a Singaporean tannery, and their himalayan crocodile is the most beautiful and sought-after in the world. It’s very difficult to buy a skin from them; you absolutely have to go through resellers.

Henglong’s crocodile is divided into several categories, but the most common are grades 1, 2, 3, and 4. Grade 1 is not available, not even to resellers, because it’s sold directly to luxury houses. I don’t even know if you can access the offcuts of the big houses, but for now, I haven’t seen any artisan claiming access to those offcuts anyway.

The part of the crocodile used by luxury houses is the belly part. The Q1 to Q4 parts (which make up the “belly area” A2) are the most used because they are wider and more beautiful. To determine the quality of a skin, they’ll not only look at the color, texture, and size, but also at imperfections in each area.

If I wanted to go with Henglong of average quality, I would have paid €770 for a 31cm skin, which seems too expensive for a small bag.

The Birkin and Kelly at Hermès use at least 3 crocodile skins, including one of grade 1 for the visible part of the bag. The visible parts of these bags use only the crocodile’s belly. Only the base of the bag uses the crocodile’s tail. That’s why they cost so much, because the raw material is already expensive.

A Vietnamese tannery

I then contacted another reseller offering crocodile skins tanned in Vietnam for about €200. I sent the photo to my leather craftsman, who isn’t happy with my choice. He tells me the material seems way too hard, and you can see it on the belly; it doesn’t fold well. This leather is only suitable for projects where the leather is completely flat, and it’s clearly not suitable for a bag.

La Prairie Tannery – Italy

La Patrie is a tannery that works with luxury brands (apparently Hermès and Gucci). That’s a mark of quality in itself, since luxury brands also audit their suppliers to avoid
getting a bad reputation. I managed to get my hands on this small skin (31cm) from the La Patrie tannery.

It has two flaws at levels A1 and A3, and it’s the last skin from the lot, so the dealer gave me a good price (look where he’s put his fingers). It cost me €313.

Generally, people need at least 2 skins to make a bag, so the dealer will sell skins from the same lot, so that the colors are similar. The fact that he only has one skin left from the lot makes the sale harder. He needs to find an ultra flashy customer who dares to buy an entire crocodile just for a belt. Or else come across someone like me, who is flashy and likes small items, and therefore only needs one skin. Anyway, the dealer was relieved to sell it to me lol. Since everything was done remotely, the skin was sent directly to my leather craftsman, and I still haven’t seen or touched it yet.

The project

Since the chosen leather is small, I’m going for a small bag. I remembered a tiny faux-leather bag that I really loved, but had to throw away because faux leather wears out quickly. I decided on slightly larger dimensions. And since I don’t have room for many items, I want a versatile bag that can transform into a large wallet or a clutch. I don’t want a flap for the bag because pattern matching is even harder and the crocodile is too small.

The project steps

Like all bespoke, custom-made projects, here are the main steps:

1. I give the design and instructions to the leather craftsman. It’s my usual craftsman Jabee who will take care of it.
2. He advises me on the skin & the size to buy (in my case 31cm is plenty). We still need to decide on the lining leather.
3. Either he buys the skin or I buy it; he doesn’t take commissions anyway.
4. He buys all the accessories (zipper, metal rings, etc.)
5. A first cardboard prototype is created; we can improve the design.
6. A second leather prototype is created; we can improve the design.
7. Once you cut crocodile skin, there’s no going back.
8. Since this skin is expensive, we’ll check together how much leather is left and we’ll make another small project (small leather goods).

The photos

Here are the photos I received for the cardboard prototype and the leather prototype (epsom). The leather craftsman tells me that a bag sewn and then turned at this size is not ideal because it creates too many wrinkles. Since we have time, we’ll go for a second leather prototype.

Here’s the second prototype in epsom leather. The bag is no longer turned, but the shape remains intact. I’m happy, so we’ll go with this model for the final bag.

Since some metal hardware and lining leather were still missing, I went to get goat leather myself (Alran tannery) as well as the hardware. This Sully goat leather has undergone a treatment of 23 steps and 3 weeks of work to reach us in these colors and with this softness.

Since 1903, the ALRAN company has specialized in tanning and leather dressing.
It produces and markets high-quality goat, calf, and buffalo leathers. ALRAN thus works with major industries and famous luxury brands. It works for companies in leather goods, furniture, bookbinding, upholstery, footwear, and orthopedics.

Alran S.A.S

Shopping break: You can buy Alran goat leather or buy finished products (handmade) lined with Alran goat leather on Etsy (here)

For the zipper closure, I chose YKK Excella (the luxurious version of the world’s most used zipper) because I found that the RIRI zipper (a Swiss brand used by luxury houses) is a bit too tight. We carefully checked the amount of remaining leather and I decided to make a special cardholder.

Here are some behind-the-scenes photos where my craftsman shows me the progress of the project.

And here’s the final bag, with the two prototypes next to it so you can compare. It looks nicer in crocodile, doesn’t it?

I’m so happy with the design and dimensions. It’s as small as I like but very spacious inside, enough to hold my phone, store money and my cards in the small inner pocket, a lipstick, and keys. The feel is AMAZING, it smells like fine leather, and it’s absolutely luxurious!! The goat leather inside is very soft, contrasting with the crocodile exterior. The strap is removable, allowing the bag to transform into a clutch in a blink of an eye. I’m quite proud because the dimensions of the bag and the pocket were calculated by myself.

And here’s the cardholder with the crocodile leather scraps. The design is inspired by the Petit H collection at Hermès. It has 3 compartments for cards, and you can also put some bills. Everything is also lined with goat leather. The slits follow the natural curve and pattern of the leather. It’s sublime!