How to recognize true red coral beads from imitations
Along with the question " is red coral more valuable than pink coral? ”, the most frequently asked question is:
how do I recognize a true red coral jewelry and necklace from imitation?
Get comfortable, because now I will teach you some little tricks giving you some basic expertise to help you make the right choice. As usual I will try to be clear and give you simple tips.
Genuine Italian red coral jewelry: four things to do to recognize it
Look carefully at the little balls of a necklace: the pearl must have imperfections!
Real Coral is not perfect, plastic is!
Rough coral resembles a transversally cut tree that shows the concentric circles of repeated settlements.
Italian horn jewelry as shown for example in the typical amulet of cornicello is curly (but we can work pieces straight), red (more or less) and imperfect!
Coral, then, if natural, is necessarily imperfect as any other element of nature, just like your man, and you women know it very well :)
Only plastic is perfect but it "smells" of plastic and fake: like every imitation.
Japanese Coral
(Bonus Tip Number One)
And here's the first gem (no pun intended) for you: how to distinguish the Italian red coral necklace from the Japanese one.
Japanese coral always has a white spot that you can easily spot in some corners of the jewel simply by turning it around.
Mind you. It is not a fault but a characteristic of all coral "elatius". No transcendental, but it is simply not the "corallium rubrum" so it’s not the red Italian one.
You got a new red coral ring
Turn it up ... Can you see a white spot that looks like a vein? don't worry you got a real coral ring in a great quality but simply not italian (but can be 99% Made in Italy as well)
Coral paste (Bonus Tip Number Two)
If you do not notice any imperfections but only a glossy surface, then you are in the presence of colored glass or the most well-known "coral paste".
The latter is nothing but an agglomerate, a resin, which has really little or no coral at all. As usual, this must be declared and, in the case, sold as such.
Look at the hole in the ball (where the thread passes) and here, if you can see a color that is obviously different from the rest of the pearl, you will be in the presence of the famous dyed coral, or coral bamboo, a coralloid that is dyed with sophisticated techniques so as to make it really looking like the coral of Sardinia or Torre del Greco.
Coral bamboo (Bonus Tip Number Three)
I am giving you another gem.
Mediterranean coral is not extremely red (think of its very expensive antique varieties picked up in Sciacca from 1875 which is actually orange).
Colorful necklaces that tend to a "strawberry" red are therefore spontaneous admission of guilt: the cost o this coral should not be very high.
For your good luck, often the bamboo coral is dyed with unnatural colors to make it easily recognizable from a genuine Italian red coral beads necklace: even here the important thing is to know what you are buying and at what price. "You cannot buy a Ferrari with the money for a bicycle”. Therefore bamboo coral must be declared and sold as such.
Ask for a guarantee: true Italian red coral is scientifically called "corallium rubrum", this statement must be reported on the guarantee certificate which every real self respected jeweler will be happy to provide you with.
This is for example the Fac-Simile of an Official Certificate of an ASSOCORAL MEMBER AND CERTIFIER
ASSOCORAL is the Italian Society for Coral and Cameos
The Expert (Bonus Tip Number Four)
Be wary of shops where you find little choice of this jewel: now that the coral is back in fashion everyone wants to sell it but few know it in depth ... I pose a simple question ... would you have your knee operated by an otolaryngologist?
It's true, both are doctors, but .. you know what I mean :)
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