why is there so much red coral jewellery?

Question

For a number of years we have been selling red coral jewellery, such as this necklace http://www.silverstall.com/costume/gemnecklaces.htm or this pendant http://www.silverstall.com/silver/pendants/gem-pendants/red-coral.html
neither of them use 100% pure coral and neither use coral picked from reefs.
As i understand it red coral is an endangered species yet the high street shops are begining to sell more and more of red coral which they say is 100% natural and from the coral reefs.
Does anyone know how they get away with selling so much (allegedly) real red coral?

Answer 1

I'm not sure about the red coral that you see where you live, but around here; yes it 100% natural coral--but it is dyed red. They don't say it is 100% natural red coral, they say it is 100% coral.

However, if you paid attention to the margins on the site that you gave it tells you the answer to your question:

"Coral itself is an edangered species due to polution and climate change. Recognising the importance of preserving the coral reefs we ensure that coral itself is not taken from these reefs. the coral used are from natuarlly broken or dead fragements found on the shoreline. The red mango that is used is similarliy found off the coast of Thailand."

Thus, you can see by their own description, they are not harming the environment.

Answer 2

If you're that worried about the environment, I'd be more worried about the fact that there's so much gold jewellery. The mining process for gold is considerably more harmful to the environment (and the people in it) than the use of coral.