Larry asked the value of some black coral he found in an estate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I’ll have a go at answering this question, but you all must understand there are many many variables in determining the value of black coral ranging from the kind of coral it is, to the color (yes there are many colors of black coral), where it came from and whats been done with it to name a few.<\/p>\n
Without going into too much detail, lets start with what kind of coral it is.\u00a0 Some months ago I was at a gem show and noticed a dealer selling ‘black coral’.\u00a0 I stopped by to check it out.\u00a0 There were boxes of fragments out, all displaying 2-3’x1-1.5′ pieces all nice jet black.\u00a0 But, when I hefted one, I new it was a fake.\u00a0 It has heavy, not light and wispy like true black coral. I challenged the dealer who\u00a0was asking a ridiculously\u00a0low price and admitted (with a bit of conjolling) that it was hard (calcareous) coral dyed black.\u00a0 Value, $5 a piece.\u00a0 I bought two just to have a reference..\u00a0 Sure enough I ground a small nub off and it was white inside!!!<\/p>\n
Next\u00a0is it Antipatharian or Gorgonian?\u00a0 The former is usually (not always but most of the time) a deep water coral and is considered by some (mistakenly I believe) to be the only true black coral.\u00a0 The latter is always shallow water coral and is what I work with as it is readily available on Florida’s beaches.\u00a0 The former is quite expensive BECAUSE it is deep water and its collection is very very highly controlled.\u00a0 I used to get some now and then from divers in Hawaii but can find very little on the market now.\u00a0 I did see some searching today priced at $10 for 50 carats!\u00a0 That’s about 10 grams (a piece roughly 1\/4″ thick by 5″ long<\/strong>. Most of the Antipatharian coral is siphoned off to the big makers like Maui Divers or Bernard Passman.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Gorgonian blacks are more readily available and therefore not as valued. Not that they are that much different in their content or make-up….they are essential both skeletons of the coral colony, both made primarily of protein, most\u00a0are usually black or brown in color, same hardness, same structure (rings like a tree – though Antipatharian rings usually are a bit wider than Gorgonian) virtually the same specific gravity, etc, etc.\u00a0 The only difference, perhaps is in the nature of the taxology of the animal,\u00a0 the Gorgonian is an ‘octocoral’ because the animal has 8 septa (some say all black coral has 8 septa) but lately I have seen references saying the Antipatharian has only 6 septa which means it shouldn’t be considered a true black coral!!!??\u00a0 Go figure!!\u00a0 Sorry for rambling, but you see there is a difference in the value based on the above.<\/p>\n Now, some Gorgonian black coral ain’t\u00a0even black (remember we are only talking about the skeleton here because the animal ((when its alive)) that inhabits the outside can be any color of the rainbow). It\u00a0can\u00a0also be various shades of both brown\u00a0and black.\u00a0 There are sea plumes, considered Gorgonian black coral because the animal has 8 septa, that actually\u00a0produces a skeleton\u00a0of beautiful bundles of brownish fibres that take on a golden color when polished.\u00a0It is much tougher than Gorgonian\u00a0and can be difficult to work with due to the sharp spines along the main stems.\u00a0 It is also harder to bend and shape.\u00a0And the list goes on.<\/p>\n How can you tell the\u00a0difference?\u00a0 Well, if it hasn’t been smoothed and polished, the skin of Antipatharian coral has a rough texture I equate to shark skin or medium sand paper.\u00a0 If you can see them, \u00a0the rings are often\u00a0wide and separated.\u00a0 Sometimes you will see finished jewelry with white rings. That is actually polish compound left there to define the rings.\u00a0<\/p>\n Gorgonian coral rough has a relatively smooth skin, the rings are thin and usually\u00a0 well packed together with a very small brown core that can be hollow at times.\u00a0<\/p>\n In either case, if its been\u00a0smoothed and polished you will not be able to tell the\u00a0difference!!!<\/p>\n For a rough medium tree (a main truck of about 1\/4″ and overall length of 10″) of Gorgonian\u00a0with long, nicely shaped limbs and two secondary branches, I usually charge from $5-10.\u00a0 When the main trunk is wider, longer, more branches, etc, good solid black color with no problems the price can go upwards of $20. Select pieces that are cut for specific purposes can be worth $2-5.\u00a0 Antipatharian coral of same size and quality can go upwards of several hundreds of dollars.\u00a0 So you see it is important to know what you have!!\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0I could go on and on but I think you get the picture.\u00a0 Before actually evaluating what you have Larry, do some on -line research to see whats currently out there.\u00a0<\/p>\n Of course, processed coral is a whole different ball game, especially if its been made here in the States and not done by some kid in Timbuktu working for $1 a month.\u00a0 There is a lot of ‘trinket-ware’ out there and tons of beads, but true pieces of jewelry made with black coral (especially if its not just a little slice added to\u00a0$10k worth of diamonds and gold) can be very exciting and worth a considerable sum due to the hand work needed to process, design, shape and polish the coral.<\/p>\n Good luck with your coral and I hope this might also help others out there.\u00a0 Cheers, Coralnut – Don<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Larry asked the value of some black coral he found in an estate.\u00a0 I’ll have a go at answering this question, but you all must understand there are many many variables in determining the value of black coral ranging from the kind of coral it is, to the color (yes there are many colors of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/coralnut\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/50"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/coralnut\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/coralnut\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/coralnut\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/coralnut\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/coralnut\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/50\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/coralnut\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}