Coral 10mm Round, gemstone quality. Corals are categorized as “colonial marine invertebrates” and are found all over the world; gemstone Coral, however, the pale pink to deep red precious variety, durable and of a denseness enabling carving and cutting without fissuring, is rare. Historically, it seems, there have only been two major sources for gemstone Coral, the Mediterranean Sea and the China Sea, the former supplying Egypt and the Ancient World since antiquity, the latter supplying China and its neighbours since antiquity.
Gemstone Coral grows in branch form, the branches increasing in size with age. Being a living marine organism, the Coral branches are attractive to parasites which burrow into it and eat it. It is more common than not that any given branch of gemstone Coral will have suffered damage from parasites, and it will come down to the gemstone cutter to make the call between size and shape on the one hand, and a completely clean surface face on the other.
In the case of the above Coral 10mm Round gemstone, the cutter, rather than continuing to polish and polish in the effort to create a completely blemish-free surface, has opted for a generously domed form rather than a flatter form which might have provided a surface more approaching perfection.
As it is, the surface blemishes are minimal, detract very little if at all from the gemstone’s form and superb colour, and, indeed, only reinforce its genuineness and naturalness. (The rear of the Coral setting is completely open and the work of the marine parasites is clear to see on the flat rear of the gemstone.)