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Red Coral Bleeding in Jewellery ShopsRed coral or precious coral (Corallium Rubrum) has been the subject of long debate between the jewellery making industry and environmental agencies. It is an issue that keeps coming back with the United States and the European Union representatives at CITES trying to list red coral on the protected species appendix II but then the regulations were yet again turned down by governments in 2010. So what are the arguments on each side of the debate?Red and pink coral are the most valuable of all corals, they are living marine mammals consisting of red skeleton and white polyps. They grow very slowly and it takes many years for corals to reach reproductive age and when they reproduce, few young survive. Red corals have been fished and traded for centuries for medical properties but mainly for jewellery, fashion and decoration accessorises using the red skeleton to produce various pieces from necklaces to lamps and vases. The most expensive and valuable are the Mediterranean corals and the red coral from Japan. Nowadays consumer demands for the precious coral have depleted the reproductive line of over 70% since the 1980's. The red coral industry is worth 15 millions of dollars each year and most of it is harvested in Italy, Japan and Taiwan... To read the rest of this article, you'll need to get your hands on Tanked Up Magazine. It's free. What are you waiting for? |
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