Quality – Sagafurs
Quality Grading
Quality grading is performed manually by Saga Furs’ expert graders. The quality categories for the skins are: Saga® Lumi Royal, Saga® Royal, Saga®, IA, Saga® I, IB and II.
Saga® Lumi Royal lots are made very selectively of short-napped mink skins of exceptionally high quality.
Skins of animals that have been use for breeding – i.e. breeders – and summer skins are graded separately according to their own quality criteria.
The Saga® trademark is used exclusively by Saga Furs for the selling of mink, fox, and Finnraccoon skins that have been graded according to Saga Furs’ grading criteria. Saga® is revered worldwide as the industry leader in fur grading.
Quality Criteria (Mink)
Grade
Characteristics
Saga® Lumi Royal
Saga® Royal
Skin of very high quality. Dense underwool and resilient, even guard hair. Saga® Lumi Royal consists of silky, short napped skins of exceptional quality that exceed the normal Saga® Royal criteria.
Saga®
Skin of high quality. Somewhat weaker than Saga® Royal regarding underwool, guard hair or general appearance. The long nap skins of Saga® Royal and Saga® are combined under the description Saga®.
IA
Skins with underwool and guard hair of Saga® Royal or Saga® quality and any one of below mentioned defects:
· Weak belly – Stains or slight sign of wear on males.
· Metallic – Guard hair is slightly curved and dry giving the skin a metallic shine.
· Spotted – In Pastel and Cross minks.
· Figure – Figure defect on Cross minks.
Saga® I
Overall weaker quality than Saga® but with good commercial value.
IB
Saga® I-quality underwool and guard hair, with any one defect listed under IA.
II
The weakest grade given to regular skins.
Final Grading (Mink)
- Quality and colour
The skins are manually checked by expert graders to ensure they are appropriate as to quality, shade and nap length. Skins with extremely short naps – i.e. Velvet 3 – are separated from Velvet 2. Differing skins are promptly moved into more suitable categories according to quality and shade.
- Special characteristics and IA/IB-quality
Skins with IA/IB defects – i.e. weak belly, metallic, etc. – are separated. Sprinklers (sprinkled with white guard hair on a dark skin, or dark on white) and white marks (significantly large white markings on the belly) are also separated at this stage.
- Clarity (tone) of colour
The different categories of colour clarity are (from the greyer or bluer tones to reddish): Colour (C)1, C2, C3 and sometimes, C4. The clarity descriptions used depend greatly on the type of mink in question. In the blue and pale types, clarity is of great importance.
Quality Criteria (Fox)
Grade
Characteristics
Saga® Royal
Skin of very high quality. Dense underwool and resilient, even guard hair. The ideal characteristics of the various fox types differ depending on the skin type.
Saga®
Skin of high quality. Somewhat lighter underwool and less silky or even guard hair than Saga® Royal.
IA
IA/IB-qualities are not used for Blue Fox skins. On the other hand, some Silver, Frost and Golden Island skins are graded according to characteristics such as:
· Sparse – Sparse guard hair
· Rump – Unchanged, darker hairs on the hips
· Coarse
Saga® I
Overall weaker quality than Saga® but with good commercial value.
IB
Saga® I-quality underwool and guard hair, with any one defect listed under IA.
II
The weakest grade given to regular skins.
Final Grading (Fox)
- Quality and colour
The skins are checked to make sure they are appropriate as to quality, shade and nap length. The density of Blue Fox skins is measured by machine, but the result is determined manually in the final grading. Differing skins are promptly moved into more suitable categories according to quality and shade.
- Special characteristics and IA/IB-quality
Woolly skins and skins with IA/IB defects – i.e. coarse, sparse, etc. – are separated. Depending on type, the special characteristics of the skins are evaluated.
- Clarity (tone) of colour
The different categories for colour clarity are: Colour (C)1, C2, C3 and C4. The concept of clarity in fox skins differs slightly from that used for mink skins. Not only are the blueish or reddish tones taken into consideration, but also the general appearance expected of the fox type in question.
