Identification of Precious Corals (Corallium rubrum vs C. japonicum) Using LA-ICP-MS Analysis

Daniel Vielzeuf (1) , Bruna Giordano (1, 2) , Jean-Luc Devidal (3) , Angèle Ricolleau (1) , Jonathan Perrin (4) , Catherine Balme-Heuze (5) , Catherine Nicole Floquet (1)

1 CINaM - Centre Interdisciplinaire de Nanoscience de Marseille
2 LECOB - Laboratoire d'Ecogéochimie des environnements benthiques
3 LMV - Laboratoire Magmas et Volcans
4 SSOLEIL - Synchrotron SOLEIL
5 Corallium

Concentrations of Ba and Pb measured by LA-ICP-MS make it possible to distinguish the precious corals Corallium rubrum from the Mediterranean Sea and C. japonicum from the Pacific Ocean with a high degree of confidence. Compared to C. japonicum, C. rubrum coral contains higher Ba and Pb (>6 and >0.2 ppm, respectively). This chemical fingerprinting technique was developed by the authors’ group during prior research and is successfully tested here on three polished red coral cabochons of known origin. This minimally destructive, relatively inexpensive and easy-to-implement method can help enforce trade regulations by distinguishing CITES-listed C. japonicum from non-CITES-listed C. rubrum precious corals.

Domaines: Pétrographie

Daniel Vielzeuf, Bruna Giordano, Jean-Luc Devidal, Angèle Ricolleau, Jonathan Perrin, et al.. Identification of Precious Corals (Corallium rubrum vs C. japonicum) Using LA-ICP-MS Analysis. The Journal of Gemmology, 2021, 37 (6), pp.596-607. ⟨10.15506/JoG.2021.37.6.596⟩. ⟨hal-03333517⟩