fancy ottoman dagger with corals...

[Rick]

Just a tag-end question about the corals:
Why are the red coral pieces almost always lozenge shaped with grooved surfaces?

[mariusgmioc]

Originally Posted by Rick

Just a tag-end question about the corals:
Why are the red coral pieces almost always lozenge shaped with grooved surfaces?

I do not know the answer but I can speculate the Mediteranean coral had thinner branches and possibly differently toned core, so in order to display the consistent orange colour they needed to be cut along the direction of the branch. Now, why grooved?!?!?