Via Viulo, 71
80056 Ercolano (Na)
Italy
I advice anyone who is in the neighborhood to go and check it out! It's really worth it!
Here are an example of the few pieces we bought there (unfortunately I offered a beautiful coral necklace to my mother without having time to take pictures, so it is not posted here but trust me when I say, it was beautiful):
Who is Coral Factory?
The company is a family business, that has ran for over 50 years. They were only working for other businesses before but last year decided to open up their business and laboratory to the public.
They have a little outside room where they project a 10-15min movie about the history of the coral, from its growth in the sea to the jewelry you wear.
You can also visit their small laboratory where every piece is worked by hand. It's actually quite amazing to see how a misshapen piece of reddish stone can become a beautiful piece of jewelry.
The work is extremely refined. These people are real artists!
All their coral comes from the Mediterranean Sea, and they work all types of coral, from the purest (most expensive) to the most defective ones (much cheaper but still beautiful).
The Shop:
After you visited their laboratory they take you to their shop... it's not very big but wow there is a ton of stuff in it! Coral on bags, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, head pins, belts, anything you want. Everything is so inventive, well worked and of such quality! We were just blown away!
 |  |
Added to this, because you get the coral "at the source of fabrication", the prices are ridiculously low for coral of such quality! They range from a few euros to over 1000 euros for the most amazingly beautiful pieces.
As for their website, http://www.coralfactory.it/, it is not very complete yet, but hopefully this will change soon. If you want to order online just use their contact form, they do speak English fairly well so that should be no problem. Unfortunately their available online catalog does not reflect at all the beauty and diversity that you find in their shop that's why I really advice you to go there and visit if you can.
Note that they also work with turquoise and a few gemstones like amethyst and onyx as well as nacre.
Coral is one of the jewels of the Mediterranean! So while you are visiting Italy, don't miss the opportunity and go and discover the real artisans who transform it into incredible jewels...
And remember that when buying coral, you should always check its origin, and buy it from people who harvest it professionally. Never buy it in non-specialized shops or on the street, where it probably comes from illegal sources (or is fake). Because if you want to keep on enjoying such jewelry, you have to protect the coral reefs!
*All the pictures except the earrings are from http://www.coralfactory.it/
No comments:
Post a Comment