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Black Coral Beads
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Posted by: mystically

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11/11/2014, 09:23:36

Hello there

I just got these large black coral beads from egypt and was wondering if anybody on this forum has any knowledge on black coral and their use through history.

The beads on the pictures are huge - the Center black coral bead measures roughly 40x37x30mm. Ive never seen any coral beads that big before. I bought black coral before in Thailand but this is many years back. The only thing I know about them is that they are valued in islamic countries and are many times used as prayer beads. Most black coral beads Ive seen were either plain beads or inlayed with silver. They were usually sold to me by piece or necklace but never by weight.

Does anybody has some further knowledge on black coral?

Thanks for any Information on this subject
Sandro

Lovely!
Re: Black Coral Beads -- mystically	Post Reply	Edit		Forum	Where am I?

Posted by: Rosanna

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11/11/2014, 10:24:42

They look like some kind of wood or petrified wood though - are you sure they are coral?

But very beautiful and thanks for showing.

black coral
Re: Lovely! -- Rosanna	Post Reply	Edit		Forum	Where am I?

Posted by: judy

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11/11/2014, 17:35:29

Hi Sandro, black coral tends to look like wood. I've not seen any the color you show, here is a picture for comparison.
Judy

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Re: black coral -- judy	Post Reply	Edit		Forum	Where am I?

Posted by: mystically

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11/14/2014, 07:29:31

Hi Judy
Thanks for showing. your beads also show the typical wood type of circles that black coral has. I just attached a Picture of a rough black coral branch which shows These circles on the inside of the branch. I think the more deep black, the more solid black coral is. Ive seen black coral beads that are entirely black without any circles or bandings but this is quiet rare I think.

Ive attached another small strand of black coral beads where the seller insisted that it should be at least 100 years old .. but who knows ..

good luck
sandro

Re: Lovely!
Re: Lovely! -- Rosanna	Post Reply	Edit		Forum	Where am I?

Posted by: mystically

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11/14/2014, 07:25:58

Hello there
Yes Im sure that These are black coral beads. Black coral most time has a Wood like appearance. Their branches look like tree branches and also have circles or bandings like wood.

Ive attached a photo below that shows a black coral branch. This is the only rough branch piece Ive ever came accross.

Good luck
Sandro

This material is totally new to me, beautiful!
Re: Re: Lovely! -- mystically	Post Reply	Edit		Forum	Where am I?

Posted by: Luann Udell

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11/30/2014, 18:05:24

Luann Udell artist & writer Ancient stories retold in modern artifacts LuannUdell.com

Re: Black Coral Beads
Re: Black Coral Beads -- mystically	Post Reply	Edit		Forum	Where am I?

Posted by: abhaya

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11/11/2014, 19:44:33

Hi Sandro, Thank you for posting this as it made me think about this black coral tiger which looks similar to yours, I bought in Thailand, and forgot that I had. This one has "Khon" (Thai religious) script incised on it which makes it an amulet of some sort. For a long time I thought it may be copy because it was so light in weight, but I just googled it and came up with the link below and found out this was one of the hallmarks of authentic black coral BTW some black corals can live 4500 years in their colonial form.

Related link: http://ganoksin.com/blog/coralnut/black-coral-value/

wow! that is amazing!
Re: Re: Black Coral Beads -- abhaya	Post Reply	Edit		Forum	Where am I?

Posted by: judy

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11/11/2014, 19:56:25

Sandro's beads must be VERY old. I was trying to get up the courage to break one of my beads to see what it was like inside. Now I don't have to think about it any more. thank you,
Judy

Modified by judy at Thu, Nov 13, 2014, 15:47:27

Re: wow! that is amazing!
Re: wow! that is amazing! -- judy	Post Reply	Edit		Forum	Where am I?

Posted by: mystically

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11/14/2014, 07:34:17

Hello Judy
I don't know if their old or not.. Especially Egypt has still lots of new black coral beads they make. So they could be old but also could be new ..

thanks for showing your lovely silver inlayed black coral beads

Good luck
sandro

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Re: Re: Black Coral Beads -- abhaya	Post Reply	Edit		Forum	Where am I?

Posted by: mystically

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11/14/2014, 07:32:33

Hello there
your statue I definitively think is black coral too. I was nearly 15 times in Thailand and they used to sell black coral a lot on street Shops in the past. Black coral they find in the south but I think some years ago the government stopped the selling of black coral and today it's not really allowed anymore to be sold in Thailand (I guy told me that on my last trip there).

all the best
sandro

Re: Black Coral Beads
Re: Black Coral Beads -- mystically	Post Reply	Edit		Forum	Where am I?

Posted by: Patriciadear

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11/29/2014, 08:12:01

I have two bkack coral slices ( cut for pendants) from a black coral 'tree' that was harvested more than 50 years ago. We also cut a lovely organic piece of the stem and polished it as a pendant. The markings on black coral are very much like a tree and glow in tones of rust and brown. The markings on my two pendant /slabs aee still white from polishing powder because they've been in storage all this time are were never cleaned after the buffing process. ...but your markings have darkened naturally to a golden brown. Beautiful!

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