What is the most expensive fur in the world?

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

When deciding what is the most expensive fur on earth, one cannot get by with an unambiguous answer. Indeed, in the world there is such a variety of animals, the fur of which is both lush, and warm, and beautiful, and, as a result of all these qualities, expensive.

Here, for example, is the fur of a vicuña, a beautiful llama living in Peru. She was even placed on the coat of arms of this country. Probably, the reason for this was not only the extremely warm and soft coat of these cute graceful mammals from the camel family. Although, of course, the fact that the skin of an animal is the most expensive fur is one of the decisive factors here.

However, one cannot discount the excellent adaptability of this animal to difficult conditions in the highlands, where there is little water, oxygen, food. And the beauty and grace of these artiodactyls can hardly leave anyone indifferent.

But why, when one wonders what is the most expensive fur, the thought of vicuñas rarely comes to mind? Yes, for one simple reason: fur coats and hats are not sewn from this llama, coat collars are not decorated either. From the wool of this animal are madehigh-quality woolen fabric, which is a kind of cashmere.

It's a shame that people at one time began to mercilessly destroy the livestock of vicuñas. And only relatively recently, when the number of these animals has significantly decreased, they returned to the ancient, gentle method of obtaining wool. Now llamas of this species are caught and sheared, then released back into the wild.

But the most expensive fur in the world, from which you can sew a fur coat, hat or collar, is sable and chinchilla. These fur animals have long been valued above all others. In ancient times, only representatives of the nobility could afford such a luxury as a long, wide sable coat. Even today, not everyone can afford such an outfit.

Among the sables, the Barguzinsky is especially distinguished. After all, the most expensive fur of these animals is the one that is darker. Namely, the Barguzin sable has an amazing, chic shade of wool. Dark chocolate with a slight gray and bluish undercoat, this fur is called “soft gold”. This second name indicates its beauty and, as a result, its high cost.

By the way, the price of this fur for a long time was also influenced by the fact that the animal itself is rather small. The hunter, trying to knock out a sable, must definitely hit him directly in the eye in order to keep the wonderful skin intact.

For a long time, precious fur was obtained exclusively by hunting. It was believed that it was impossible to breed this animal in captivity. However, in 1929workers of fur farms managed to get the first offspring of sables. Since then, the farms have taken care of breeding and raising these "kings of the wild furs", as they are often called.

Answering the question of which fur is the most expensive, one cannot help but recall the chinchilla. Her fur is extremely thick. After all, from 60 to 80 hairs grow from one hair follicle of this amazing animal! Moreover, the thickness of the hair does not exceed a hundredth of a millimeter.

Today, fur farms breed and raise chinchillas in captivity - they are well tamed. Breeders even managed to breed animals with a unique fur color, non-standard, and therefore very expensive.