JEWELRY Coral rides the wave of popularity as colorful a 'deep-sea treasure'

Nature-inspired pieces will brighten your look.
SCRIPPS HOWARD
Last year, the latest big thing in jewelry was turquoise. As summer ends this year, fashion hounds have been panting after coral as the hot way to enhance skin-baring fashions.
Catherine Zeta-Jones and Diane Lane endorsed pink coral in the large, dangle earrings they wore to the Academy Awards in March.
Lucky magazine has recommended "the deep-sea treasure" in everything from inexpensive beach-stand necklaces to a carved rose ring studded with diamonds.
Inspired by nature
Coral started to make waves last year and is cresting now, said Amanda Berg, a spokesman for the Jewelry Information Center, a trade association based in New York City.
"People are into the whole nature-inspired look, and coral gives off that feeling," she said. "It has such great color for summer. It can brighten up any outfit, and you don't have to spend a lot of money on a wardrobe."
Coral is found in a range of colors from white to red. A lovely baby pink called "angel skin" is trendy. Bright apple-red is the hue of choice with many jewelry designers.
Coral is the calcified skeletons of sea creatures that grow in formations resembling trees. Most used for jewelry comes from the Mediterranean Sea or from the Pacific Ocean near Japan and Taiwan.
"Really red coral is rare and expensive," said Barbara Card, owner of Riddle Gems & amp; Minerals, an East Memphis, Tenn., jewelry store that specializes in natural stones and minerals. So a lot of red coral used in contemporary jewelry is enhanced with dye, even in expensive pieces, she said.
Some idea of cost
A 16-inch necklace of 7-millimeter, perfectly matched coral beads is $700; lovely Spanish Colonial-style dangle earrings set in gold and adorned with pearls are $750; rings are usually $300 or $400.
Card can order coral in white or pink and make a necklace comparable with the estate necklace for $300 to $500, depending on the quality and shade of the coral, she said.
Color-enhanced coral gives you the look for a lot less.
"I like all the gradations of shades, from angel skin to deep and dark," said Cornelia McDaniel, a jewelry-maker and member of the Memphis Archeological and Geological Society who works with enhanced coral and offers custom pieces, as well as ready-made.
"I do a lot of mixing" of coral shades as well as coral with black onyx, she said, and she's experimenting with coral and gold.
She can make a 16-inch strand of 8 millimeter coral beads for $20 to $50 depending on the settings and fasteners.
A talisman
Like turquoise, coral has been worn since prehistoric times as a talisman. It was thought to stop bleeding, protect from evil spirits and ward off hurricanes.
Even if you aren't troubled by hurricanes, wear it for the wonderful way it looks with neutral colors such as white, black, and tan, or create a striking, contemporary effect by mixing it with gold jewelry.