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Examples of Coral Beads |
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Apple coral- reds, orange, yellow colors with some tiger mixed in; porous often
has a protective lacquer finish |
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Tiger coral- tans and browns with interesting veining patterns; often has a protective lacquer finish |
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Blue denim- soft blue color; hard but porous; can be polished or lacquer coated. |
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Blue sponge coral - light to medium blue color; porous |
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White Coral - Nonporous and hard. Can be polished to a shiny finish |
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White sponge coral ; porous - too soft to polish. Less valuable then the harder type, at one time plentiful - often dyed |
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Lavender Coral; soft to medium purple color, sometimes with brown or white on the tips. Hard and porous, can be polished - One of the rarer colors |
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Angel Skin Coral; light to medium pink often white with pink splotches. A darker pink with an even color (no splotches) is the most valuable. It is hard & dense, polishes and carves well. Rare and expensive |
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Black Coral; It is dark black with golden growth rings, it has a horny feel and is very light weight, sometimes mistaken for plastic. High quality beads can be polished to a shiny finish where no rings are visible.
Small pinpoint indentions or pores visible with magnification.
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Red Coral - All shades of red can be found. The darkest Italian red is called oxblood and is the most valuable. An orange/red is the most common. It is porous and hard but can be carved and polished to a shiny finish with no visible pores. This coral has been over mined and is now very rare. Large branches are extremely rare and are thousands of dollars each. |
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Red Sponge Coral - A medium red color coral that is more porous. It sometimes has a lacquer coating to enhance the colors and make it smooth and shiny. It has beautiful natural veining and color variations. Comes in larger sizes. |
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Salmon Coral - A darker pink/orange color. It is porous and hard but can be carved and polished to a shiny finish with no visible pores. The more even the color the more valuable. Getting rare. |
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Unique Coral Pendants &
Beads |
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Mixed Coral Pendant - tiger coral, apple coral, horn and ivory. They are glued on a thin plastic backing . Most made in the Philippines in the 1970's and 1980's. Very collectible. |
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Coral Flowers - Carved from a solid pieces of coral. Popular motifs for 100's of years |
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Large Geometric Beads -Pieces of coral are laminated on a wood base to make these large beads. Most made in the Philippines in the 1960-70's. These examples are made of Apple coral (on top) and tiger coral (on the bottom.) |
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Striped Coral Beads - These beads are definitely eye catching. Dyed pieces of coral are laminated together to make these beads. Most made in the Philippines in the 1960-70's. |
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Antique Victorian Pendant This coral was carved and polished at the turn of the century.
It has and embossed gold cap. This orange color coral was the most commonly used in the Victorian era. |
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