Photos

Comments

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  Toya April 25, 2012 at 4:44pm

  This is fantastic coral! Will you make a necklace?
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  ait ouakli April 25, 2012 at 5:00pm

  congratulation edith.  this is a real mediterannee coral.the ones like this ( bored longly ) we call them tunisian coral
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  Ethnic Embellishments April 25, 2012 at 5:23pm

  Very nice coral!  I love the mix and variation as well as the subtle color differences.
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  Edith D April 25, 2012 at 5:56pm

  Thanks all....For Toya, yes I need to do something else with these since they are strung on fish line!  Yikes!  But I haven't yet decided what kind of design to use.  The coral is pretty on its own, but I also have some old silver beads that would look good with this.  The person I bought it from referred to the coral as "bedouin" so it probably originated as one or more rural necklaces.  My understanding is that the price for old coral has skyrocketed in some places.  Even here it has become difficult to find and typically costs more than old silver.
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  ait ouakli April 25, 2012 at 7:04pm

  edith. it is the same in all northafrica now. 10 days ago only, i asked for old coral price in kabylie. it was even more expensive than old silver . i could not believe it but it is like this. i asked arround and some trader said that the chinese buy all
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  Ethnic Embellishments April 25, 2012 at 8:06pm

  Ait, YES! The Chinese are buying all of the antique beads.  Most of our customers for antique amber are Chinese.  I asked one of our customers who's English is fairly good why he buys them.  He told me that he collects ancient and antique beads and makes necklaces for his wife.  There is a rumor among dealers in Morocco and in the US that the Chinese are melting the amber beads and also buying old Yemeni silver and coral and melting the silver- the beads being melted to make them more scarsce and valuable & the silver is being used in electronics manufacturing.  I have a hard time believing this.  I believe that many Chinese have taken up antique bead/ ethnic jewelry collecting as a hobby, just as in the past 3-4 years, prices for antique Chinese silver jewelry has skyrocketed due to the fact that many Chinese are reclaiming their jewelry heritage- much of which was exported to the US in the 1970's by the government.  

  I feel that my husband and I are fortunate that we purchased so much antique Malian and Moroccan amber years ago when it was still relatively affordable.  My husband just had the opportunity to purchase a cache of 2 kilos antique Moroccan coral and amazonite.  Very expensive, but I have not seen a descent, even small collection of old coral or amber or amazonite for several years now in Morocco.  I'll repost the photos of the beads that were offered to him.  
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  ait ouakli April 28, 2012 at 9:53am

  Hillary. thank you or the infos. i think that the chinese buy old silver and coral to collect. it is cheaper to buy fine silver than antik. they but new mediteranne coral too. i think but not sure, they use it for some medizin.

  oh yes show me photos