Ralph Lauren & Carlos Falchi Belts-could these be exotic leather?

[TeamSparkleVintage]

Hello everyone! I have 3 belts that I'm in the process of trying to identify: one of them is a vintage Ralph Lauren, USA made belt, and the other 2 are Carlos Falchi, made in France. I'm trying to figure out if these could be exotic leather...I have had a crocodile vintage RL belt in the past, but it was actually stamped "crocodile leather". Has anyone ever seen one that has NOT been stamped-it is not labeled crocodile or leather, just "Ralph Lauren" and "Made in USA". The quality and the way the finish feels is VERY similar to the genuine crocodile one I previously had in my possession. I'm guess-timating that the era is the 1980s, pictures below!




Here are the Carlos Falchi belts-the brown one has a very distinctly exotic finish, but I'm personally still at a loss as to how to identify whether or not it might be embossed...I have seen some really convincing embossing jobs, but I was hoping that someone here might perhaps be familiar with this era of CF belts? I'm not sure what era these are from but what I do know about the brand is that he makes many purses with genuine exotic leather. The green one has a beautifully lacquered finish. They seem to be of extraordinarily high quality!

View attachment 29333

If anyone has any information regarding either of these brands' specifically, and what types of leather they typically used for their belts in the appropriate eras, I'd be very appreciative! Also, if anyone can identify what type of exotic leather was used just from the pictures, that would be incredibly helpful as well-thanks so much everyone!!

 

[Pinkcoke]

Hi, the Ralph Lauren looks like stamped leather to me. Can you show the edges of all pieces? It's helpful to see the thickness of the skins, what they look like at the edges etc.

 

[joules]

Same here, regarding the RL appearing to be stamped leather.
I agree, it would likely be marked, were it an exotic.

I love Carlos Falchi bags; the materials and crafting, are always top notch.
Nice to see the high quality belts.

Melanie's suggestion, for more angles and views, is good.
I'm leaning towards stamped on those too, from what I can see.

 

[furwise]

The RL belt to me looks like an crocodile embossed leather intended to resemble crocodile. If it were genuine crocodile leather you would be able to see and feel a pore in the center of each scale. I don't see those pores there.

The second belt, which is the first CF belt, to me, looks like genuine Alligator leather. I am unsure of wildlife rules in France are or what they used to be when those belts were made regarding the stamping of. The irregular pattern throughout and the umbilical scarring which is those star shapes seen in 3rd photo of that belt is consistent with genuine alligator and manufacturers sometimes use more than one umbilical scar just for identification purposes. It is very hard for a stamp to replicate that.

I don't recognize the pattern on the third belt though so I don't have an opinion to offer on that one. Sorry.

 

[TeamSparkleVintage]

Thank you so much to all who replied to this thread! I apologize for the embarrassingly long delay in following up with this thread-here is an additional image of the side of the two Falchi belts, as Melanie requested. The one to the left is the brown one and the one to the right is the green. I wish I knew what the brown one was intended to represent, if it is indeed embossed-it seems like such a uniquely exotic pattern, but I'm sadly at a complete loss as to what it is even supposed to be fashioned after! Thank you once again to all that took the time and consideration to help me with this! Your input is greatly appreciated

Picture:

And additionally, I also had this other belt I was planning to list in my eBay store, but have had to hold off on due to not being sure of the leather. I'm trying to get better at identifying genuine exotics versus embossed leathers but it can be a challenge and I always appreciate new sets of eyes and opinions!

Here are pictures of the other belt:



Thanks again!

 

[Pinkcoke]

The green belt appears to be PVC faux-leather, due to the white underlayer and very unnatural colour! (it also has over-exaggerated shadowing, like it's trying to be dinosaur or something )
A clue that it's not real leather - to keep the layers together leather would normally be stitched along the edges, or folded over to create a binding - this is just glued (laminated, technically) which suggests the materials are more prone to adhesion, as plastics are.

 

[TeamSparkleVintage]

Thanks Melanie, I appreciate your expertise! I agree that the color is pretty intense-you never know what you'll come across when you thrift often enough, LOL! Thanks again for the opinions and assistance, everyone!