about

Caïman & Co is a small atelier working in crocodile, alligator, lizard and ostrich. We do not hold stock of finished goods. When you order, a hide is selected for your piece, cut, skived, stitched and burnished by hand — and then it goes to you.

The hide

Every piece begins with the skin. We buy finished hides from established European tanneries and cut around the belly scales, where the pattern is most regular — which means a great deal of each hide is never used. It is the most wasteful way to work and the only one that produces a face worth looking at for twenty years.

All of our leather is sourced legally and documented under CITES. 

The hand

Nothing is machine-stitched. Each piece is saddle-stitched with two needles and a single thread, so a broken stitch stays put instead of unravelling down the seam. Edges are bevelled, sanded, inked and burnished in several passes. A watch strap takes the better part of a day; a wallet takes considerably longer.

Made to order

Because each piece is made for one person, you choose the leather, the colour, the thread and — if you want it — two initials. Standard pieces ship within 20–25 business days. Bespoke commissions take as long as they take, and we tell you honestly before you commit.

Never repeated

No two hides carry the same scale alignment, so no two pieces are identical. That is not a tolerance we accept — it is the reason to buy one at all.