MINERAL GEM WORLD

RED CORAL SPONGE

This is a natural  sponge coral from Indonesia well polished and ready for settting.

Strong red colour

Weight 14.30 cts app

Size 32 x 19 x 5 mm app

Sponge coral has been valued for many ages. Since prehistoric times corals have been used in jewellery and it continues to carry the same reputation among jewellery lovers. It is best associated with the Buddhist religion who considers coral as one of the seven treasures in Buddhist scriptures.

Most of it is found in Mediterranean Sea and in the Pacific Ocean near Japan and Taiwan. People shouldn’t confuse this with coral reefs as both of them are formed from different species than the coral made into use in jewellery

Quality. The color of fine-quality sponge coral is a strong orangey-red. It is typically found variegated with fine yellow or orange trails, with the lesser quality showing larger variegated areas as well as a secondary brownish tint. It is difficult to say whether the nonvariegated or slightly variegated pieces are more desired, as each is unique in its own way. As for color,  however, the closer to pure red corals are, the more sought after they are. There also are blue sponge corals, the majority of which are accented by a secondary grayish hue. Sponge-like coral of a pure, dark,  saturated blue color is heliopora coerulea, and free trade is forbidden.

Stabilized Because the structure is full of holes, 95% of all sponge coral is stabilized. “You can recognize this easily, as the holes are filled when stabilized,”  While most corals can show a high polish, if you look at a sponge coral and see a smooth surface, that means it has been filled with a resin or polymer. Using a microscope or loupe, one can usually spot individual filled holes fairly quickly.

Care and cleaning. Coral is soft, approximately a 3.5 on the Mohs hardness scale. While this makes it easy to work with, it also makes it easy to damage.

As for wearability, according to Rohm, coral in general should not be we worn directly on the skin, and may be washed regularly with light soapy water.