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MEDITERRANEAN RED CORAL LE DÉFI DES CORAUX | 9| 9

Corallium rubrum has been used in jewellery since ancient
times, both for its beauty and for its presumed magical
properties. Its colour has earned it nicknames like “the
blood of Christ” or “red gold”, distinguishing it from tropical
corals - its distant cousins - whose porous, white skeleton
does not have the same appeal. A source of fascination, this
deep red coulour nearly caused the loss of a species which
grows very slowly (1 to 3 millimetres per year).

AN AMAZING ANIMAL
Historically, red coral was the first organism to be given
the name “coral”. Despite its use and trade for a thousand
years, the nature of red coral remained a mystery until the
18 century, when the Marseille-based doctor Jean-André
th
Peyssonnel demonstrated that it belonged to the animal
kingdom. It was later discovered that like other biominerals,
its skeleton is made of an organic matrix embedded in a
mineral cement of calcium carbonate. This organic matrix
contains the pigments which give it its colour, brightness
and value.

© E. Tambuté (CSM)