Coral Jewelry: is pink coral more precious than the red one?
This is the question that every jeweler in my field will receive sooner or later, as well as " how do you handle or assess red coral by the gram or by carats" ... and as each article on our blog, even today’s one has been created to answer all the common questions that you pose. For all other questions, do not worry, I will answer them all in the near future: italian red coral necklaces have been a passion of mine for years.
Let's talk about Coral and let's talk about Lara ...
Last week Lara, a beautiful girl from Rome, dressing a very beautiful coral ring in silver , came to visit us and she asked a very difficult question: " Which one do you think is the most precious coral? The pink one or the red one? Are they both caught in the Mediterranean? ".
I looked at her, half smiling (on the other hand at the age of nearly 47 years, I am still attracted to the fairer sex) and I replied: "Do you think I should flirt more with a dark hair woman or with a brunette?"
She stood there almost dumbfounded and while she was trying to answer me, I anticipated her by saying: "I know, I know, it depends on the woman of whom we are talking about!".
Luckily for me, she immediately chilled – by the way, it is not recommended to anger a woman without fearing the consequences.
I asked her: "Dear, which kind of jewell would you like?" She said: " I want an Italian red Corno "
"So Lara the answer to this question is very easy: buy red coral!"
.... and now I will tell you why, in this case, red coral is the only answer ... let's start
You can't compare red and pink coral
This little story to explain that sometimes you cannot compare two things because they are so different that to make comparisons would certainly be an understatement.
The pink and the red are two corals that cannot be compared to each other, because they are two totally different types of jewels and materials, which are caught in the seas of the antipodes of the world.
But you are tenacious and you want me to come right to the point ... let's start in order then.
Pink Coral is from Japan
Pink coral is a Japanese coral that is fished in deep waters (up to 400 meters); it is usually very big, with heads that can reach tens of kilos and is crossed by a white vein on the inside. It has a "glassy" texture and is very suitable for engraving.
Red Coral is from Italy
The red coral (corallium rubrum) is fished throughout the Mediterranean, at between 60 and 200 meters, by skilled and courageous divers, in heads, which rarely exceed one kilo and it has a generally uniform red color. Red coral tends to be more porous and it more suited to smooth processing (not engraving).
That's why I suggested Lara to buy the red one: if you want the typical "Italian Cornicello" you should buy in genuine red Italian coral.
Ok ... but how much is red or pink coral worth?
You're really tenacious ... Let us consider three aspects to evaluate (though reductively) coral:
a) Size
b) Color
c) Purity (1st-2nd-3rd grade) etc.
I created, to facilitate understanding, a simple scheme.
For Red coral: Size and Purity are primary evaluation factors, while the color is secondary (unless in presence of some kind of debate or discussion).
For Pink Coral: Color and Purity are primary factors and very important for evaluation, only secondarily size is considered.
Now you can understand very well what I meant when talking about different jewels which are not comparable: pink coral and red coral cannot be compared with each other, at the most you can identify some common sense rules to figure out how to identify the best quality within the same family.
Ultimately I would like to invite you to browse the web to find more of my articles on the subject covering the same from other angles. I love to answer questions by other readers, mainly because I love what I do and I would like to share more information as possible about this mysterious world.
And Lara?
But you are curious to know, at this point, if Lara from Rome was a brunette or with dark hair ... I can only answer that she had the most beautiful blue eyes I've ever seen ... but do not tell my wife this!
The biggest hug in the world
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