Description
Science and beauty are rarely in conflict. Here they converge. Noble coral — Corallium rubrum — is the red skeleton of a colonial marine animal, deposited as microcrystalline calcite. Mediterranean red coral has been harvested since antiquity; Phoenicians traded it along ancient routes. Today it is heavily regulated; this specimen is from a documented pre-regulation collection. The color ranges from pale pink to ‘oxblood’ red, the deepest shades most prized.
This specimen originates from Sciacca, Sicily, Mediterranean Sea, one of the world’s most significant localities for this type of material. Collectors and scientists have drawn from this region for generations, and for good reason: the combination of geological conditions here produces specimens of exceptional quality and clarity.
Every specimen is unique. Photographs approximate the visual experience, but the real thing — its weight, its luster under a raking light, the way it catches the corner of your eye — can only be experienced directly.
