Now we have double culatta shell cordovan in stock!
Although the quantity and color variation are still limited, we would like to expand our stock on double culatta if there is more demand. So let us hear from you what color or finish you want on double culatta.
Now, some of you may be familiar with shell cordovan but not so much with double culatta. So let us briefly explain what they are.
There is one shell cordovan layer on each buttock of a horse, so usually two shells can be collected from one horse hide. (To be exact that's not always the case. Refer to What is shell cordovan? for more basic information.) Usually in midway through production, horse rump crusts are cut in half and then processed as single shells. When a rump crust is processed till the end without being cut in the middle, we call it double culatta, the Italian word for rump.
In Japanese double culatta is called "glasses" due to resemblance to their shape.
The biggest advantage of double culatta is its size. You can make a shell cordovan belt in one piece without any patches.
So are there any disadvantages?
You need to be aware that there is almost no double culatta with two shells connected. That means if you choose to have shell cordovan in double culatta, you will always have non-cordovan area in between the two shells. This area is less smooth compared to shell cordovan, so you can tell the difference by its look or touch. When you make a belt in double culatta, you will have this non-cordovan area in the middle. In other words if you are just making small leather goods there is no need for you to use double culatta as some of your products may end up being made entirely with the non-cordovan area.
The non-cordovan area is normally smaller at the bottom of the buttock and gets wider towards the back. The width of the gap between two shells greatly differs in each hide so some have wider gaps (more non-cordovan area) while some have two shells closer together (less non-cordovan area).
We do special inspection for double culatta shell cordovan. Unlike single shells no points are added for the size. Instead points are added depending on how many pieces of 1100 x 35 mm paper can fit (how many belts can be cut out) in the double culatta.
After laying out 1100 x 35 mm paper strips, we then proceed to see how many rectangular shapes (such as A4 size) can fit in the remaining area and points will be added accordingly.
No matter how efficiently you cut out belts from double culatta, you will always have unused area on each buttock. So be sure to plan making smaller leather goods together to reduce wastage.
Double culatta shell cordovan are quite rare compared to single shells. So don't miss this chance to try one out!