Style Bottega Veneta Leather Guide

[TDL]

** bumping this thread to ask a common question on most people's minds **

Q: Are Karung and Ayers the same thing?
A: Technically, no.

They are both water snakes... part of the Acrochordus genus of primitive aquatic snakes commonly found in Southeast Asia, but they have different scientific names and scale patterns.

Karung:

• Scientific name: Acrochordus Javanicus
• Common name: Javan file snake or Elephant trunk snake

Ayers:

• Scientific name: Homalopsis Buccata
• Common name: Puffed faced water snake or Masked water snake

A photo of Ayers is included below. You can view a picture of Karung on jburgh's first post on this thread.

From a BV standpoint, they tend to use karung to make full-blown exotic bags, clutches and SLGs while Ayers tend to be accent pieces of fettuce combined with nappa or other materials. For example, those mixed material wallets and the frames of the Knots are in Ayers. Hope this helps!

 

[jburgh]

Mangrovia

Mangrovia is BV's name for the leather from the SE Asian mangrove snake, or gold-ringed cat snake. The species is Boiga dendrophila and is in a huge snake family called the Colubridae. It can grow to 8 feet long.

Mangrove snakes are mildly venomous. The venom is injected by a pair of enlarged teeth at the back of the jaw. This snake must move the prey into the rear of its mouth and then penetrate it with its fangs, presenting difficulties with large prey although they can quickly move smaller prey (or a human handler's finger) into position. No human fatalities have been reported, but the bite causes intense swelling and pain.

Although this snake is called a mangrove snake, it does not hang out in the mangrove swamps, and it is not a water snake, per se. It is a tree dweller, found in lowland rainforests. The Boiga dendrophila is commonly found in Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Singapore and the Philippines, and prefers to eat small lizards, frogs, birds, and small mammals.

This snake is a popular pet despite its reputation for having a "bad temperment." I have never kept one as a pet, it is known to get stressed out easily.

Has a most beautiful and amazing patterning. Here are some pictures: