Wear white gold instead of coral, says Tiffany & Co

Jewellery designers are supporting imitation coral in a bid to protect the endangered marine organism.

Tiffany & Co have a range of jewellery including necklaces, bracelets and white gold earrings which sport a coral-branch motif.

Linda Buckley, Tiffany's vice president of public relations, said: "The few people who have asked about coral and why we don't sell it, once we explain the reason why, they are very supportive."

The Too Precious To Wear campaign from marine conservation group SeaWeb also offers alternatives to wearing real coral.

Ethical customers can help themselves to bathing suits featuring coral coloured glass beads or enamel-painted metal sculpted to look like coral.

In other news, the Development Resource Centre, a non-government organisation from New Zealand, has released a tourist code of practice for when people go abroad, reports the Earth Times.

Included in this list is a warning against buying jewellery or trinkets made from coral.

As an alternative, tourists should buy locally traditional arts and crafts souvenirs.