A new certification for coral
The Italian Gemological Institute and the Bahrain Institute "Danat", thanks to the technical support of the University of Naples, will be the first in the world to be able to provide a certification of the nature of coral. It is a sure proof based on a genetic analysis of this ancient and precious material: the eight species that Cibjo defines as "precious coral", in fact, are now identifiable by a sophisticated fingerprinting tool. And so we say goodbye to the opinions of experts, to leave room for a real scientific test.
This innovation stems from the long work carried out in Cibjo and in particular by the Coral Commission chaired by Vincenzo Liverino, founded 5 years ago and immediately focused on protecting this precious material until the adoption, in 2015, of the Coral Blue Book, and the drafting of the manual "Coral Guide for Customs - Classification & Identification of Coral Materials".
Everything is based on the molecular analysis of precious coral species, to obtain an important guarantee for the buyer. What changes in practice? "So far - explained Loredana Prosperi, director of the IGI gemmological laboratory and delegate of the Coral Commission of Cibjo - the identification was based on the physical properties of the material through morphological observation. In this new way of certification, the identification of the genetic code, present in all living organisms, the most reliable method for the determination of species, which now offers the possibility of certifying without doubt, using appropriate markers, the question comes into play. coral species ”.
A wonderful novelty, considering that there are countries, like China, which have vetoed some of the 8 species of precious coral. Therefore being able to certify the coral with certainty makes the trade easier. Vincenzo Aucella, president of Assocoral, concludes: "From today we move from an identification of expert operators to a scientific recognition, thus ensuring greater clarity on the coral species used. If in fact up until now there was talk of coral tout court, now it is possible to give an important additional information on the species ".
