Try to buy vintage exotic skin bags from the sellers who specialize in them. They know their stuff.
2. However, be aware of restored, repaired, refurbished or altered bags - they have lesser value than original vintage. Added rhinestones or pins should be mentioned in the description to avoid misrepresentation.
3. Sometimes, broken original handles can be replaced with vinyl handles, belts or metal chains.
4. When bidding on an expensive, "designer" vintage alligator or crocodile handbag, remember that the maker's mark must be stamped on the interior leather, usually in gold. If instead there's a glued-on label, most likely the label does not belong to the bag and was added recently. Except for the bags by Sterling USA, fabric labels in vintage bags are always sewn into the interior seam - never glued-on.
5. Make sure that the bag is made of genuine skin and not a fake. Starting from as early as the turn of the century, makers were able to produce embossed bags imitating genuine skins. Embossing is the process of printing of a pattern on leather or vinyl - to imitate genuine skins. To tell the fake, request the close up. Look for the repetitive pattern. The grooves between the scales on the embossing are usually dull and less defined. A lot of bags by Dofan made in the late '60s, after the ban on genuine alligator skins, were made of embossed cowhide or vinyl, lined in faille. Watch out for those!
6. If you are looking for a collectible purse from a specific historic period, they are: Victorian (late 19th century - 1900), Edwardian (1900 - early '20s), Art Deco ('20s-'30s), Retro ('40s), New Look ('50s), and MOD ('60s).
7. Be aware of the recent Asian import - hornback alligator bags - created to look like "vintage". They are made of inferior farmed alligators and often patched of several skins. Though cute and usable, they are not collectible.
8. Be aware of turtle skin advertised as alligator and lizard skin - as "baby alligator" or "baby crocodile". Turtle skin comes from a sea turtle - a huge marine reptile - and has angular scales. Lizard skin comes from large tegu, monitor or iguana lizards and have smaller, narrow and tight scales arranged horizontally in neat rows, or bead-like round scales arranged in random patterns. Avoid buying bags presented as "baby alligator" or "baby crocodile" if they are not signed as such - most likely they are made of lizard, not alligator, and are not valuable.
9. To tell the difference between alligator and crocodile, check the scales closely. If you see small dots (hair follicules) in each scale, it is crocodile. Currently, alligator and crocodile skins are valued at the same level.
10. Once in a while, crocodile bags could be advertised as "Crocodile Porosus", even if they are not. Among various types of crocodile skins used for making handbags (Nile crocodile, Mexican crocodile, Johnston's crocodile, New Guinea crocodile, etc.), the Porosus or Australian Saltwater crocodile is the rarest and most expensive. Its valuable skins have very distinct appearance. The most expensive are the highly symmetrical belly cuts, with neat, tile-like scales in the center and small and tight, round scales on the sides. The bottoms and the gussets of the Crocodile Porosus handbags are often made of the skins with a neat, tile-like pattern. Less valuable are handbags made of random cuts, with the patterns that are not symmetrical. Most crocodile handbags by Saks Fifth Avenue and other American brands from the '50s or '60s were made of the more affordable Mexican crocodile, not Porosus.
11. Always read the comments of the feedback, in order to get the complete picture of the seller's profile.
12. PRODUCT CARE: Keep your precious alligator purse in a clean dustbag - slightly stuffed - flat, in a box, away from extreme elements (heat, cold, moisture and dust). Dust it regularly and polish away oily fingerprints with a soft dry cloth after each use. It is the oily dust that causes in vintage/antique skins the worst damage - dry rot (leather cancer). For deeper cleaning and conditioning, use only the products designed specifically for reptile/exotic skins (e.g. DYO reptile conditioner). They are usually free of wax and silicone and protect skins from drying and cracking without impending their ability to breathe. MINK OIL is NOT recommended for reptile skins, as it clogs their pores, which could promote dry rot.
Cherish your treasure and it will last forever!
THANK YOU for your ATTENTION!
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