{"id":33,"date":"2008-12-21T16:07:54","date_gmt":"2008-12-21T21:07:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/coralnut.userblogs.ganoksin.coms\/?p=23"},"modified":"2008-12-21T16:07:54","modified_gmt":"2008-12-21T21:07:54","slug":"black-coral-jewelry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/coralnut\/2008\/12\/21\/black-coral-jewelry\/","title":{"rendered":"Black Coral Jewelry"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>While I am waiting to prepare another “Solving Problems in Class” segment, I thought perhaps\u00a0a few of you \u00a0might like to see some of the black coral jewelry I have been making for the past\u00a020 years or so.\u00a0 I don’t intend this to be a tutorial or to go into the processes of finding and\u00a0working with black coral, nor to discuss all the genre and species of black coral. That could go on for days and end up regurgitating a lot of information that many scientists can’t even agree on.\u00a0 For those who wish to work with black coral,\u00a0 however, you will find just about all the necessary information at the old Lapidary Journal web site if you go to the archives and look for\u00a0my article, “Gems from the Sea” in\u00a0the August, September and Decembert 2000 editions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Suffice it to say that I work mostly with the shallow water\u00a0variety of black coral (Gorgonian) that grows in waters 10-100 feet +- along the South Florida Atlantic coastline and down into the Caribbean.\u00a0\u00a0 It is available quite readily on the beaches, having been naturally harvested by Mother nature and deposited at high tide.\u00a0 Therefore, it is unnecessary to break the law and take it from the reef.\u00a0 One\u00a0will pay a hefty fine for doing that, if not spendinga few years in jail, so….don’t even think of it<\/strong>!!\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Otherwise, one can sometimes get ahold of the deep water variety (Antipatharian) that comes from the deep trenches in the Carribbean or around Hawaii…but it will definately cost you.\u00a0Collecting it is highly regulated and it is dangerous to dive for it.\u00a0 Now and then a piece can be found along a secluded beach but only\u00a0rarely.<\/p>\n

Anyway, here are a few pictures of what can be done with the Gorgonian coral \u00a0(or Octocoral) I find along the Atlantic coast line of Florida from Boca Raton south to the Keys.\u00a0<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a>\u00a0 $\"\"$ <\/a>\u00a0 And hundreds more.<\/p>\n

Others can be seen at www.magicalsilverjewelry.com<\/a> on Don’s page.\u00a0<\/p>\n

School is out for the next few weeks but I will be back with more Solving Problems in Class articles shortly after the New Year.\u00a0 Meanwhile,<\/p>\n

Cheers and Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"