Help me out here... Both are textured and scratch resistant leather...what else is the difference? Clemence is softer? Togo more rigid? Do they both hold the shape of the bag as well?
Clemence should be softer because the leather I think is from a baby animal (I think they use a bull). It should also have a more matte finish. I don't know about the rigidness though.
Here's what I know. Both are from bull leather, Togo from an adult, Clemence is baby bull. Togo's grain is slightly "puffier" and the leather is slightly stiffer so a bag in Togo would be less floppy than one in Clemence. Clemence's grain is like if you took the Togo grain and flattened it out with an iron. It's softer and not so "puffy." It's a much squishier leather. I've heard Clemence is slightly heavier. If you go to Luxwear.com you can see a picture of both leathers side by side. Also, Togo is prone to Veining, more than clemence. Veining is little verical streak patterns that break up the grain. I don't mind this because it's impossible for the fakers to duplicate this!
I've ordered a clemence Birkin shoulder because this type of leather is softer and lighter than togo, but I believe both are beautiful..we're speaking of Hermes!!
If you can get very fine grained togo, it looks really lovely and I prefer that to clemence (the grains tend to be bigger and flatter). Slouch factor in both leathers depends on the batch of leather that was used to make the bag - My blue jeans togo has very lovely & fine grains but the leather is rather thin and hence rather slouchy.
ideal description I have a togo agenda and a clemence Picotin and this descibes them perfectly. I would also though, still take a look at any togo that turns up - some of the togo grains can be quite large and flat and look just like clemence in my opinion. I was looking at togo leather Ulyses agendas with Eliselady this week and the differences in grain between the different agnedas were very extreme in some cases- some grains very small and 'tight' and others flat and large like clemence. Both are gorgeous and smell great!
I think togo is slightly (very slightly) more durable than clemence. It is also a bit more structured, but not much more than clemence.
I know this is a revisit of a 2006 thread, ...but... I posted this image in a reveal thread yesterday after buying an orange bag in Togo. The Togo bag is naturally a more structured bag (lined, for one) but it's clearly not slouchy at all, the Clemence is a big slouchfest, which I like for a Picotin! Clemence on the left, Togo on the right.
Here's my gold clemence Picotin on the left against my gold togo Ulyses agenda on the right. The grain sizes look fairly similar, but the togo on the right is more 'raised'. From what I've seen in the stores, togo grain is often smaller than my example and conversely, my clemence grains seem quite small compared to others I've seen.
allaboutnice, THANK YOU for the picture! I'm also curious...Do you find the GOLD colour darker or more intense/saturated in Clemence or is there no difference? There seems to be a difference in the picture, but very slight....
I can't say there's any difference in the colours really. I think any differences might be more about light reflection off the different grain surfaces and also, the agenda was angled slightly when I took the photo, in real life, they are pretty much the same colour but I don't have an artist's eye so I am probably missing subtle differences in saturation. Sorry I'm not much help.
