Bean, intercellular, finish, vice, texture, density... Any familiar words or more unfamiliar ones? 😅
🔹 Texture:
Texture is the unique characteristic of each particular hide, each part of the hide and — or generally of a type of leather. The individual pattern characteristic of a particular hide. Belly — squares, tail — rectangles, flanks — bean, etc.
The texture can be strongly pronounced (then you can say that the skin is "fleshy") or weakly pronounced (means that the skin is either too tight or filled with paint — this is a constant sin of manufacturers from Asia, so we do not work with them)
🔹 Bean:
Bean — a texture/pattern of crocodile skin, characteristic of the side parts of the hide (sidewalls). It looks like oval or round cells, and popularly just — bean 😂
🔹 Intercellular:
Intercellular — furrows, depressions in the texture of the crocodile skin. The intercage can be in tone with the main color of the hide, or it can be contrasting, creating an "antique" design. The most interesting thing is that the furrows on the sides are also intercellular, not "interbean" 😂
🔹 Finish:
The finish is the result of the complex treatment of the hide after dyeing — the top coat. Finishes come in different colors (classic, millennium, mirror, nubuck, etc). The factory uses many different chemicals and coatings depending on the task at hand. Some are simply waxed, some are coated with solutions and "sealed" under press and certain temperatures, and some are polished on special machines. I've written a post about finishes before too.
🔹 Vice:
A vice is a flaw or defect in the crocodile's skin. It's important to realize that the keyword is OR. Because not every vice/flaw is a defect, but any defect can be called vice or flaw. A vice can be natural (a lifetime healed scar, insect bite, battle wound, etc. traces of the animal's life), and a defect is a consequence of factory errors and human error (over-dried, over-burned, over-painted, improperly transported, stored, doubled, etc.).
☝️ Many vices can be repaired and give the leather a second chance. Restoration is not only a useful skill but also a source of extra income for any artisan, as there will always be customers who want to extend the life of their favorite products 🥰
🔹 Leather Density:
Leather density aka thickness. The most popular and common thickness of crocodile leather is now 0.8-1.3mm. Thinner — dress dressmaking, thicker — almost no one does not do, as there is no demand to torture with it 🤷🏻♀️ The density of the skin does not depend on the part of the crocodile skin, but only on what was the purpose and purpose of the factory in the process of production of a particular material, that is, what was the original purpose of this skin before the crust. There was a separate article written about that.
🔹 Crust:
The crust is leather without color or finish. It is leather for coloring. More often, skins in the crust are purchased by craftsmen who make products either from their personal signature hand-dyed shades — art format. Or masters who make very small products (for example, watch straps) with a large palette and it is economically more profitable for them to buy a whole skin in crust and dye for themselves blanks for each individual product. Not all craftsmen are willing to do hand dyeing, but this type of work is very valuable because you can create unique pieces.