Amber

Amber belongs to the organic gem’s group, so gems that are created by living organism (in this case plants) in a biological process. Is a resin of an extinct pine, which probably produced it in a huge quantity. This resin settled and hardened with time, holding within it all that she had incorporated when still soft, was in various crevices of barks or rocks around.

To be called “Amber” this resin can’t be younger than a million years!

It has been used ornamentally up to 13.000 years, mostly in northern Europe, and historically has been used (it is still now) also as perfume, medicine and cosmetics.

Amber is soft and warm to the touch. Because is not a mineral it doesn’t have a crystalline structure, actually its an amorphic (no shape). It’s very easy to work, very often the artisans make complex carvings that sometimes are real master-piece. 

The varieties vary slightly among the various fields. The color is very similar to honey, the most common is yellow to orange, but the most valuable is transparent red. Usually amber is quite transparent, is very easy see through all the inclusions (if there are), but sometimes Amber happen to be a bit cloudy that are enhanced in beauty with treatments.

Amber's popularity is due to its special inclusions. The gem is not expensive, indeed it is one of the cheapest, unless if small prehistoric creatures, that are now extinct, are trapped inside it.

Because comes as a soft and sticky material, it could happen to some insects or small animal to remain trapped along with leaves or other plants. Today these “guests” are real relics that help scientists discover more about our past and about the environment where they were formed.

Because every piece is unique, amber that contains this special inclusions hold on the market a price far higher than those clear and without inclusions.

The world’s leading source of Amber is in Northern Europe, the Baltic Sea Region. The past geological eras have changed the geography of the land but has retained all production of the prehistoric conifers that produced this special resin. Every time that occurs in the sea an erosion  some amber is released; its low specific gravity allows it to float in salt water, so, once on the surface, waves washes it to beaches where is possible collect them. 

Of course, this is not the only one way to find Amber. In the World there are several open-pit mines where the gem is mined directly from the ground. The other main sources of Amber in the world are: Dominican Republic, right now the most important, Mexico and also Italy, in Sicily Island, where the gem is called Simetite.

Hardness and toughness are very low, so if used in everyday jewellery needs care but not special maintenance. It is sensitive to heat, burns at low temperatures giving off a peasant scent; actually is often used as fragrance for incense.

IMPORTANT: beware of who wants to sell gems and marketing them for true Amber, and to prove their authenticity passes the flame of the lighter under the stone to show you that does not burn! It happened to me to see it, done by peddlers, and many people believe it! If it were really amber it would burn out quickly, and would also be irreparably damaged!

Sun Spangles within Amber

Treatments to enhance its beauty are very common, the most common are oil filling that clarifies cloudy gems and heating to lightens dark amber. Heating creates also inclusion called sun spangles.

We can find some different kind of imitators, either natural and manmade. The most common natural is the Copal, which is a natural resin younger than amber, it has less then a million years.

in this Ambroid is possible see some bees and olive's
leafs. if they were real inclusions in true Aber, this big
gem would be priceless!

 As manmade imitator plastic is the most used, this material resembles amber in many aspects; the only two things that make them different are the types of inclusions and their specific gravity: the plastic has a SG higher than amber, so it sink in salt water.

An object that is commonly found in jewellery is the Ambroid: small pieces of Amber are heated and gathered together  with high pressure: this technique makes not only a bigger gem, but also a gem that gives positive results to all identification tests, but is very easy to identify with magnification; usually some gas bubbles get trapped between the stones, which are visible at the loupe!