Posted 5 years ago
Steptoe1
(1979 items)
Hello I have got to the smaller items in my collection of stones and have these beads , I think they might be coral one seems to be split in half so may help to identify them
Vintage beads | ||
| Gemstones444 of 695 |  |  |
Thanks kerra
I have a concern. See the way the coral color is uniformly the same depth into the stone?
I know it could be just a coincidence that the hole was drilled exactly into the center of a white streak in a natural coral bead.....but....that causes doubt in my mind. This could be stone dyed to look like coral.
There is a simple test with vinegar you can do to test for coral which will not hurt your beads.
Simply pour enough white vinegar into a cup to just cover the bead, place bead in vinegar....if it’s real coral, you immediately will see bubbles on the bead surface. Remove bead and rinse with water to remove vinegar.
I’ve seen this method online. It looks simple and safe. If they were my beads, I would try it.
I thought it was some cherry tomatoes when I first saw the pic!
I did have the same thoughts of it being dyed but have never seen the inside of a coral bead, maybe dyed coral ?
Try the vinegar test - view it online so you know what to look for.