100% Natural High Quality Red Italian Sea Coral 4x3mm Barrel Shaped Beads (9 inch Strand)

Natural dark RED color, high quality. 9 inch strands. As seen in photo, beads are slightly irregular size and may be slightly off the measurement. This is a natural product and may contain a few pits and irregularities.

Precious coral, or red coral, is the common name given to a genus of marine , Corallium. The distinguishing characteristic of precious corals is their durable and intensely colored red or pink-orange , which is used for making .  Red corals grow on rocky seabottom with low , typically in dark environments—either in the depths or in dark caverns or crevices. The original species, C. rubrum (formerly Gorgonia nobilis), is found mainly in the Mediterranean Sea. It grows at depths from 10 to 300 meters below sea level, although the shallower of these habitats have been largely depleted by harvesting. In the underwater caves of ,  (the "Coral Riviera") it grows at depth from 4 to 35 meters.