Evaluating a Coral

The evaluation of a coral is a complicated operation that is certainly up to the expert eye of a professional. And I would add: live; descriptions or photographs are not sufficient to get a real picture of the object to be examined.

There are many factors that must be taken into consideration during an evaluation. Generally, an unprepared eye could focus only on color - it is actually the first thing that strikes, and then we hear so much about rare and very precious corals, such as Angel Skin, or black coral which, on the contrary, does not it is of value and, indeed, it is not even really coral - but, in reality, there are three parameters to be taken into consideration: color dimension and purity.

Let's see how to apply these parameters to pink coral and red coral.

Evaluating the Pink Coral

The pink coral comes from Asian seas, it is fished at great depths, even over 400 meters. It is usually very large with tufts that can reach a few tens of kilos and is crossed by a white vein inside. It has a "glassy" consistency and is suitable for engraving.
Based on these characteristics, for the evaluation of pink coral color and purity are primary and discriminating factors, only in a second phase is the size considered. < br>

Evaluating the Red Coral

The red coral of the Mediterranean is fished at a depth between 60 and 200 meters and is found in clumps that rarely exceed a kilo in weight. It tends to be porous and more suitable for smooth processing, not engraved.

In the case of evaluating red coral, size and purity are primary factors to be taken into consideration, while color is secondary.