Corals are shell material secreted by polyps that resemble branches, and when the color reaches the level of red, orange-red, and pink, it is promoted to the rank of gemstones. From different color identification, corals can be divided into multiple grades. Among them, sardine coral is the second red category after the top red of Aka coral, although it is the second oldest of the coral family, its charm is not bad at all.
Sardine coral, originally refers to the deep-water noble coral produced in Sardinia, Italy, and later the corals produced throughout the Mediterranean Sea are collectively referred to as sardine corals, and sardines have become a valuable species of coral. Of all the deep-sea corals, sardine corals grow the shallowest, about 50 to 120 meters underwater, so there are no pressure lines on the branches.
Take a look at the comparison of sardine coral branches with other coral branches.
▲ Sardine coral branches
The morphological plane of sardine corals is both three-dimensional, the tip of the tree has no white core, and the thickness of the upper and lower parts is too slow.
▲ Aka coral branches
The morphology of the Aka coral is mainly flat growth, pay attention to the white core of the tip part of the tree, and the white core penetrates into the coral.
▲Momo coral branches
The morphology of momo corals is mainly flat growth, and the tip of the tree also has a white core, but the color is not as bright red as Aka.
The secondary red grade of coral refers to sardine red, a standard large red, commonly known as "pepper red". In addition, the common colors of sardine corals are orange, orange, vermilion, and deep red, which can be compared with aka red if it reaches the crimson level.
▲ Sardine Coral 108 Buddha Beads Special Grade Red
Sardine corals account for a large part of the coral trade, and in addition to their beautiful color, there are two main reasons.
First, sardine corals do not have a white core, which is an important symbol that distinguishes them from acre corals. A small number of sardine corals have needle-tip-sized white spots, or unevenly colored white marks, but are distinctly different from the white cores of Aka corals and are very recognizable. There are also many wormholes in Aka corals, but in comparison, there are far fewer wormholes in sardine corals and the surface is smoother.
▲ Sardine coral
▲ Aka coral
Second, the price of sardine corals is relatively cheap. Compared with Aka corals with similar colors, the price of sardine corals is more affordable. There are very few materials for sardine coral to be used to carve into pieces, and there are not many large beads that can be ground into more than 10mm, which also makes its price not too high.
▲ Sardine coral stud earrings
The price of sardine corals is both affected by the size of the material and by its color grade.
Wholesalers in Italy generally divide sardine coral into 3 color grades, namely pink, normal, and excellent. Some merchants in China are more particular about sardine coral, which will be divided into 5 color grades of P, I, E, S, and SS. Let's tell the difference between them from the pictures.
▲ Beads of different color grades of sardine corals
From left to right, there are P, I, E, S, SS grades, and according to the Italian grade, the first one on the left is pink, the 2nd and 3rd ones from the left are normar, and the 2nd on the right are excellent grades. Therefore, sardine corals that are wholesale from foreign countries generally have to go through the second round of sorting to distinguish finer color levels.
In the second round of sorting, the size grades are also re-differentiated, and 0.2-0.3mm can be divided into one grade for sale.
▲The color grade is E, S, SS from left to right
▲ Sardine coral of special color
In terms of price, the color of sardine coral can reach the level of cattle blood red, and its price is indistinguishable from the top Aka.
Source: Youshike | Jade Encyclopedia (ID: yuqibaike), which introduces the practical knowledge and value information of jade, color treasure, and cultural play every day.