How to Choose Amber Jewelry?

If you love unusual gemstones, amber has a place in your jewelry wardrobe. This material has natural beauty and comes in a variety of shapes and colors that add personality to your fashions. Let’s see what you should know before buying amber jewelry.

What Is Amber?

Amber is a tree resin that fossilized over tens of millions of years in the earth, where it matured under high temperature and pressure. Today, amber is extracted from rocks or collected when it is washed up onshore by the sea. Amber is a very soft material and has been used in jewelry, medicine, and perfumery since ancient times.

Types of Amber

A common classification of amber is according to its origin. Nowadays, there are two main areas where most amber is found: The Baltic region and the Dominican Republic. There are also deposits in other parts of the world, but they are relatively small compared with the ones in those two major regions. Baltic Amber This type of natural amber is over 40 million years old and is one of the most valuable. It can be transparent or opaque and occurs in light to dark tones of yellow. The opaque variety of Baltic amber can also be white. Dominican Amber Amber coming from the Dominican Republic is between 25 and 40 million years old. This type of amber is more likely than the Baltic variety to have insects or plants trapped inside. Much like Baltic amber, Dominican amber can be seen in various tones of yellow, but it also comes in blue and green varieties, which are found only in this region and are very rare.

How to Evaluate Amber Jewelry

The value of amber is mainly determined by its color and clarity. Some collectors also place a higher value on pieces that have fossils inside them.

Color of Amber In general, the most valuable color of amber is rich yellow of medium to strong darkness. Red pieces are also considered of high value. The most important quality that determines the value of amber’s color is its intensity.

Clarity of Amber Clear amber is more valuable than pieces that look cloudy or opaque. Dominican amber tends to have higher clarity compared with most Baltic amber specimens. Plant pieces captured in amber can be considered inclusions, but they do not really diminish its value and can add to its attraction.

Amber Treatments

Here are the most common treatments used to improve the appearance of natural amber:

Heat Amber can be heated in oil to improve color and clarity. This is especially true of Baltic amber, which is often treated this way before it is sold. Red Baltic amber, in particular, is almost always heated to achieve its cherry color. The color of Dominican red amber, in contrast, is usually natural. A lot of the green amber sold today also owes its color to treatment.

Filling Some amber pieces have cracks and other irregularities, which are masked by filling them with copal (another form of tree resin).

Coatings Some amber is also covered with certain coatings. This type of treatment usually aims to enhance color, but the results are not as durable as those of heat treatment.

Melting Since amber pieces are not always the right size or shape that consumers prefer, vendors melt pieces of the material into chunks that are larger or better shaped. The resulting pieces are called “pressed amber.” This type of amber is cheaper than comparable solid pieces.

What Is Fake Amber?

Fake amber pieces are usually made of copal, other resins, plastic, and even glass. It is not always easy to distinguish imitations from the real thing as some of them look very much like genuine amber. One of the surest ways to identify real amber is to touch it with a hot needle – the smell produced should be sweet and pine-like. However, this is test is not recommended unless you are ready to damage a part of your amber. Copal is probably the most commonly used imitation material since it is also a tree resin, just like amber, only younger and less mature. Although it looks very similar to amber, copal is softer and can be scratched with a fingernail, which should not leave a mark on amber. Contrary to what many people think, trapped beetles or bees inside an amber piece do not guarantee that it is authentic – sometimes, sellers insert these insects themselves. The most certain and harmless way to test whether a piece is genuine amber is to use a scientific method such as IR-spectroscopy or spectrometry.

Picking Settings for Amber Jewelry

Amber gemstones complement silver, white and yellow gold metals. If you prefer casual settings that complement your funky fashion style, choose silver or white gold chains, bracelets, or ring settings. Yellow gold is suitable for any of the colors in this gemstone as well. If you prefer this type of metal, it is quite becoming with the stones that range in the lemon, butterscotch, cognac, or brown shades often found in amber stones. What to Wear with Amber Jewelry The warm colors of the stones work well with autumn shades or neutrals, such as khaki, beige, or brown. Depending on the setting, this jewelry is perfect for dressy or casual wear. If you adore dressing in bohemian fashions, this stone is definitely for you, although it can be classy and elegant with the right setting and fashion ensembles.

This natural beauty adds personality to your wardrobe, comes in a variety of shapes and colors. Baltic amber is rather soft material, has been used in jewelry, medicine, and perfumery since remote times. It attracts attention, is real treasure to own. For centuries worn mostly by nobility, not affordable to the masses. Amber not only pleases the eye but also balances mood, reduce stress, gives general sense of wellness. Color and clarity range from transparent or opaque, occurs in light to dark tones, some look cloudy or opaque. One of most desired colors are determined by its intensity, white to rich yellow, medium to strong darkness.