saltwater crocodile
Crocodylus porosus · CITES Appendix I, except the Indonesian population, which is Appendix II
No photograph here yet. What belongs in this slot: the actual strap, shot in daylight, with a macro of the scale tiles and a wrist shot.
The smallest, tightest and most even scale tiles of any crocodilian, and the top of the trade's own hierarchy — above Nile crocodile, above American alligator. It is also the reason this shop can exist at all. Crocodylus porosus is banned from commercial trade nearly everywhere on earth. The exceptions are the populations of Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea, which sit in Appendix II. Ours comes from Indonesia, which is why it can be traded and why a permit follows it.
how you tell it is a crocodile.
Look for the pore. Crocodiles carry a small sensory pit on nearly every body scale — a tiny dark dot, roughly beside the edge of each tile. Alligators do not have them on the belly. It survives tanning, it is visible with your eyes on a good hide, and it is the single most useful thing a collector can learn to look at. It is also why we photograph the tiles close up.
Then look at the tiles. Porosus tiles are small, square and near-symmetrical either side of the centre line. Nile crocodile tiles are larger and more irregular. Alligator tiles are smooth and uniform, without the pore. None of these is a bad skin. They are simply not the same skin, and they are not the same price.
three cuts, three prices.
Belly, centre cut. The square tiles running down the middle of the hide, mirrored either side of the centre line. This is what a dress watch wants and it is what Hong Kong stocks. Roughly 85% of a crocodilian's commercial value sits in the belly, which is why it is the dearest thing on this page.
Flank. Outside the centre run, where the tiles turn round and grow towards the side of the animal. The same hide, the same permit, a different part of it — and priced for it. On a sports watch it often looks better than belly.
Hornback. The dorsal cut, with the bony ridge scutes left on. A look for a large case rather than a dress watch, usually 24 mm and up. Worth knowing: nobody in this trade charges a premium for hornback, so we do not either. Anyone who does is selling you a story about rarity that the market does not agree with.
the details.
| species | Saltwater crocodile, Crocodylus porosus
Confirmed by the export permit. Species confirmation from the factory: to confirm |
|---|---|
| CITES | Appendix I, except the populations of Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea, which are Appendix II |
| cuts | Belly (centre cut), flank, hornback |
| origin | Farmed in Indonesia. Tannery to confirm |
| lug widths | 16 to 24 mm, including 17, 19, 21 and 23 |
| taper | 4 mm as standard — a 20 mm strap finishes at 16 mm |
| length | 115 / 75 mm standard. Short and long available |
| lining and stitch | to confirm |
| delivery | Hong Kong. Sending an Appendix II specimen out of Hong Kong needs an AFCD export licence issued in advance |
Every hide is different, so no two of these straps are the same. The tile pattern you get is the one that was on that animal. We will send you a photograph of the actual piece before it is cut.
looking after it.
Keep it dry. Crocodile is a tanned skin, not a waterproof one, and a soaking will lift the tiles at the edges over time. If it gets wet, let it dry away from a heater. Take it off before a shower or the pool the way you would take off a suede shoe.
Rotate it. A strap worn every day for a year ages far faster than two straps worn on alternate weeks, and this is a skin worth keeping. A light leather conditioner once or twice a year is plenty; more than that softens it.