There are "Three Jewels" in the Buddhist world: Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. The Buddhists have the "Seven Treasures": gold, silver, amber, coral, brick, glass, agate. Corals are the only living millennium artifacts in jewelry. In the West, alongside pearl and amber, it is listed as one of the three major organic gemstones. In the Oriental Buddhist scriptures, corals are listed as one of the "Seven Treasures" and have been regarded as rich and auspicious since ancient times. Among them, red coral is the most popular collector.
The vast majority of the world's red corals are produced in Taiwan, so Taiwan is also known as the "Coral Kingdom". In just a few years, the red coral, which has been playing a supporting role in the collection market, has soared in value and has once become a favorite collector's collection. The market is like this, what is red, the tree is big, followed by a variety of "Li ghosts" began to flood the market, so that we had to guard against. This issue collects and sorts out several aspects of coral collection that need attention, hoping to be useful to everyone.
[1] Talk about coral
Corals are divided into two categories. One is reef-building corals, which live in shallow sea areas, which are numerous and common; the other is gem corals, that is, red corals, which live in the deep sea, are precious and rare, and belong to the collection level.
There are many similarities and differences between the two, the similarity is that they belong to the coral family, and the main ingredient is white calcium carbonate. The differences are as follows:
1, living environment: reef-building coral lives in subtropical and tropical shallow sea areas, close to the mainland, its survival needs to have sufficient sunlight and warm water temperature; red coral lives in the deep sea of 200-2000 meters, dark and cold, and mostly earthquake volcanic active areas, red coral production areas are not much, concentrated in the three major seas.
2. Lifestyle: Reef-building corals provide nutrients through symbiotic algal photosynthesis and their own capture of plankton for a living; red corals can only survive by having plankton on the seabed.
3, quality characteristics: reef coral texture is looser, hardness is not high enough, the color is more mottled, as a landscape viewing is not bad, but can not meet the gem use requirements, not suitable for making jewelry; red coral is different, the texture is delicate and meticulous, can be carved, convenient as jewelry, and because of the scarcity of the number there is a certain investment collection value.
4, the value of high and low: reef corals are huge, relatively ordinary, limited use, so the price is not high; red coral is not only precious, and very rare rare treasures are valuable.
【2】 Comprehensive evaluation
1. Color: Red is the best in the inland and Taiwan regions, and the order of red mass is bright red, red, dark red, rose red, light rose red, orange red. In Europe, pink is the most popular.
2. Texture:
(1) The best red coral is red, and the hue is pure and uniform;
(2) The weight and size of the portion are precious;
(3) The best texture is dense! Porous is secondary;
(4) The carving is fine, and the rough is second!
3, blockiness: of course, the larger the more complete the better.
4, the construction method: remember a sentence: "good horse with good saddle, good work with good materials."
[3] Grade differentiation
1. Red coral is one of the gem-grade corals, red coral, white coral, blue coral belong to calcareous coral. Black corals and golden corals are corals.
2. There are three main types of real gem-grade red coral:
(1) Aka red (mainly produced in Japan, less in Taiwan)
(2) Momo (peach, from Taiwan)
(3) Sardine (from Mediterranean/Italy)
The instructions are as follows:
(1) Top Red: AKA Red, that is, the Chinese translation of "Aka", referred to as "Aka-level". Typical of the grade standards of Taiwan Crimson Aka or Big Red Aka. Commonly known as "cow's blood red" coral.
(Top Red)
(2) Secondary red: Sardine red, referred to as "sardine level". It is named after the typical product of the Italian island of Sardinia. Is the Great Red Order. Commonly known as "pepper red" coral.
(Secondary Red)
(3) Third-class red: Momo MOMO (main production area of Taiwan) refers to peach-colored coral, the color is second to Aka red, which is the color of flesh peach or orange red.
(Third Class Red)
(4) Others: The fourth grade red is the child's face; the fifth grade is pink white; the sixth grade is pure white, that is, ordinary coral fossils.
【4】 Identification elements of red coral
1. Look at the texture
The naked eye should pay attention to two textures when identifying.
(1) Longitudinal stripes. Red corals have longitudinal stripes parallel to the direction of growth and are more tightly arranged.
(2) Year pattern. Also known as growth patterns, in the cross-section of red corals, growth patterns will have like annual rings, from small to large, relatively regular. Moreover, the growth pattern of each coral is unique, so that the authenticity of red coral can be identified.
(No texture after dyeing)
2, look at the color
(1) Color. The color of red coral is a vivid red, whether it is light or dark, it is alive, undead, not depressed! And red corals have a bright waxy luster, while dyed red corals have no luster and are depressed in color.
(2) Transition. The color of red coral is from the inside out, the color transitions from the center of the column outward, the closer to the surface the darker the color, the lighter the inner layer color.
3. Listen to the sound
Real corals look delicate but have a crisp, hard sound when they collide with each other. General plastic or other imitation corals do not appear this hard and crisp sound. This sound is especially evident in the dendritic corals!
4. Weight
Corals have a good sense of weight, generally placed in the palm of the hand will give people a sense of heaviness that does not match their delicate feeling, this amount is also one of the bases for identifying red corals and some inferior counterfeits!
5. See if there are any flaws
Red coral is a natural organic gemstone, more or less there will be some flaws, such as small white spots, coral worm eyes, etc., which is a normal phenomenon.
[5] See clearly the means of deception of red corals
(1) Fake corals are imitated by sea willow, sea bamboo, etc., with obvious loose longitudinal texture structure, uniform color, but dull color, easy to fade, darkening.
(2) Filled, synthesized and imitated corals, phenomenon characteristics: no natural texture structure, uniform color, fragile, easy to fade, less dense than red corals.
(3) Dyed plastic, marble, red glass, no texture. Only the red granular structure, not reflected with acid, the usual gaseous inclusion, easy to fade, no fluorescence.
(4) Bone products, replaced by cattle, camels, elephant bone products, dyes, inconsistent appearances, will fade, bone products have a pore-like structure, and the structure is rough, the sound of coral tapping is crisp, the bone is heavy, the coral is brittle, the fracture is flat and the bone product is tough and not easy to break, and the fracture is serrated.
(5) Characteristics of dyed corals: White corals are usually dyed red and other colors with organic dyes. The identification factor is that the dye is collected in the crack, and the outer color is dark, the internal color is light, the surface is different, and the cotton will be dyed by rubbing it with a cotton swab dipped in acetone.
(Dyed sea bamboo)
[6] Questions and answers on the misunderstanding of red coral
1. Does the real red coral have a white core?
A: Aka red corals are all white cores, so Aka red corals will only be made into egg surfaces and spherical surfaces, used to set rings, pendants, and original branches, and generally less will be made into beads (of course not absolutely).
2. Are the corals with growth patterns all red corals, and the corals without stripes are not red corals?
A: Sea bamboo dyed red coral also has growth patterns, and unlike red corals, sea bamboo has thick, sparse, easy to see, radial patterns. Conversely, the red coral texture of the sardine is invisible to the naked eye.
3. Are red corals all red?
A: Red coral is a species, red coral in the growth process, absorbed iron is red; conversely, if nothing is absorbed, the principle is white, white red coral is very rare.
4. Does the surface of the alcohol rubbing "dyed coral" fade?
A: With the current dyeing technology, you can dye the real corals with color, so it is impossible to wipe off the "dyed red corals" with alcohol bubble dyeing.
[7] The market price of red coral
Red corals are rare and rare, and as the years go by, they become more precious and have an increasing appreciation potential. At present, in the international community, the value-added of red coral is very rapid, a rare raw materials, exquisite design of red coral carvings, can be described as a lot of value, as a collection of treasures, its market value, prospects can not be underestimated.
What is the current market situation of red coral? Collectors need to follow this principle when choosing: the heavier and more expensive, the larger and more expensive the coral!
At present, the price of red coral is relatively transparent in the market, and the basic control price is as follows:
(1) Aka-level, 500-4000 yuan / g
(2) Momo class, 250-500 yuan / g
(3) Sardine level, 200-300 yuan / g
(4) Fourth-class red, fifth-class red, 90-200 yuan / g
The above prices, the former is the new price. The latter is the top collection price. In addition, all red corals with historical value and cultural research value in the Ming and Qing dynasties that have reached the "Aka level" are not included in this price, and are generally auctioned per piece!
【8】 Coral maintenance methods
Sometimes everyone will wonder why corals are red and bright when they are bought, but after wearing sweat, the color becomes lighter and loses luster, which is closely related to the maintenance of corals.
The chemical composition of coral is calcium carbonate, the nature is unstable, there are acidic components in the sweat of the human body, calcium carbonate will produce a chemical reaction when it touches acidic substances, generating white calcium oxide, which is the white substance we see attached to red corals. Summer is the season of sweating the most, try to rinse the red coral jewelry with water every night, wash off the sweat on it, and there will be no white calcium oxide without chemical reaction. After washing, dry with a soft cloth, apply baby oil, and every once in a while, put the red coral in a plastic bag containing baby oil, soak it overnight, and dry it with a soft cloth to restore its red color and luster.
The following three points should be paid attention to when wearing:
1. After wearing, try to rinse the red coral jewelry with water every night and wash off the sweat on it. After washing, dry with a soft cloth, apply baby oil, and every once in a while, put the red coral in a plastic bag containing baby oil, soak it overnight, and dry it with a soft cloth to restore its red color and luster.
2. Please avoid heavy hits, collisions, so as to avoid gems falling off and being damaged.
3. Please avoid contact with chemicals, acids, alkaline liquids and perfumes.
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