Sardinian Coral
Corallo Sardo
This is how Ovid in the Metamorphosis describes coral, born from the blood of the now decapitated Gorgon from the fury of Perseus.
The term Sardinian Coral (also known as "red coral" or "Mediterranean coral" refers to an octocoral of the Coralliidae family widespread in the Mediterranean Sea and the eastern Atlantic known by the scientific nomenclature Corallium Rubrum.
It belongs to one of the three noble families of corals used in jewelery which also include Corallium Elatius (Cerasuolo, Pelle d'Angello, Momo, Bokè) and Paracorallium Japonicum also known by the name of Aka or Moor of Japan.
However, fishing carried out since ancient times on the coasts of Sardinia (we have Phoenician artefacts in coral) has led to the popularization of the term, and to the identification of all the coralium rubrum as "Sardinian".
Sardinian coral differs from coral fished in the rest of the Mediterranean due to its wider chromatic scale, which goes from intense red, almost purple, to a pale pink (beautiful of Sardinia) up to the phenomena of albinism.
On the western coasts of our island, the coral appears in an elongated shape with a fan-like opening, the "branches" have a "cylindrical" growth which makes them particularly suitable for smooth processing (dots, cabochons), the quality of the finished product is be on average higher than coral fished in other areas of the Mediterranean.
The Castaldo family, owners of the Sanna Gioielli brand, boasts five generations of history relating to fishing and the selection of this precious material.
37.1. It is not a random number, it is the FAO identifier, the fishing area, from which all the coralium rubrum that we use in our work comes from, it comes only from sustainable fishing (the Autonomous Region of Sardinia has the most restrictive law for protection and conservation of the species of the entire Mediterranean).