On Sat, 03 Mar 2007 11:52:11 -0800, in rec.crafts.jewelry "silverstall"
wrote:

There seems to be an abundance of red coral being produced by a
factory in South East China such as this necklace
http://www.silverstall.com/costume/gemnecklaces.htm which is composed
of fragments of red coral mixed with a resin. It is mounted on a
coconut back using a hot-glue gun which so far seems to have caused no
problems There is also a variety of 'red coral' such as this pendant
http://www.silverstall.com/silver/pe...red-coral.html
where the coral is processed with mangrove for which we have used
epoxy 220.On Mar 2, 4:48 pm, Red tree coral, as i understand it is an
endangered species and its use may cause problems.


Seems like a lot, if not most, of the :"red coral" I see strung into various
beads (some of sizes I'd never expect to find in a true gem quality coral) at
the gem shows, especially the retail level ones that seem to have an awful lot
of beads and junk, are not coral at all, but dealers grudgingly, if at all,
elaborate on "coral" by explaining that it's dyed "sea bamboo". Now, I'm not
sure just what sort of plant or animal "sea bamboo" really is, but it's not,
I'm told, a true coral. I was told the stuff grows fairly rapidly, and it
does seem to work easily, and if you're not too picky about identification,
seems attractive enough with a sometimes interesting texture. I just wish the
stuff was marketed a bit more honestly, not trying to imply that it's a true gem
coral, or that the color is naturally red...

I wonder if, Silverstall", your "sponge" coral is related to this stuff called
"sea bamboo"? there seems, from your photos, a visual resemblance...

Peter