Red Coral

SenoraBrenda wrote

on Aug 27, 2011 8:19 AM

I hope that I am not intruding.  I have a question about an old piece of what appears to be red coral.  It has been in our family for so very, very long that we don't know where it came from.  I have been using it in a flower bed. It has not seemed to fade in any way. What do I do with it?  If it has any value, I probably should not leave it outside.  Any advice?

DebWAZ wrote

on Aug 27, 2011 5:40 PM

Take it to a jeweler or a lapidary (someone who works with rocks). If there is a rock & gem club in your area, you can try them.

If you can take a photo and include it in your post, maybe one of us could tell what it is. Include something next to it for scale - a ruler, etc.

Sorry I couldn't be more help. But, if you post the photo, I'll try!

Deb

Silverior wrote

on Sep 3, 2011 3:38 AM

try this http://www.gia.edu/lab-reports-services/how-to-submit-gems/general-information/index.html.

hope it can helps you :-)

nativevisions wrote

on Oct 21, 2011 8:10 AM

HI,

 My name is Barbara and I 'am new to the forum but hope I can help. I have been working Native American pow wows for over ten years and red coral is always prized as a good stone for making jewelry. However, most of the red coral is now dyed as it has been regulated now due to the ravishment of our ocean floors so if you have a real piece you can slice it and make some rally nice high end jewelry out of it. The way you can tell if it is dyed is to slice a piece off and see if it is red all the way through . If so you may have the real thing. Most coral you buy now, if you slice a piece off, you will find that it is white on the inside which usually means it came from China and is not really the real thing. Hope this helps