All about Amber!

•What is amber?
Amber is not a mined gemstone, but rather prehistoric tree resin that has fossilized. Amber has a very appealing golden yellow or yellow-orange color and it has been a popular “stone” for adornment and jewelry since the time of the ancient Romans and Greeks. Some amber even has the fossilized remains of prehistoric insects like flies and other animals trapped inside.

•Where is amber found?
The largest deposits of amber found to date have been along the Baltic Sea coasts of Poland, Latvia, Estonia, etc. Amber is also found in Myanmar (and known as burmite for the country’s former name, Burma); in Sicily, and in the United States, Mexico, France, Germany, Spain, Czechoslovakia, and Canada.

•Color
Amber is almost always yellow or yellow with tones of orange, athough green, black, purple, and red amber have also been discovered. The popular yellow and orange varieties are the ones most often used for jewelry.

•Shape
Amber is very soft and thus can be easily cut and polished into a variety of shapes, the most common being beads and cabochons. Amber can also be cut into cameos and polished flat for setting in rings, pins, earring, and pendants.

•Durability
Amber is a mere 2.5 on the Mohs Scale and, as such, is not a very durable stone for wide-ranging wear. Due to its organic nature, amber is susceptible to drying out and becoming brittle and fragile, thus, it should not be worn when sitting in the sun. Nor should it be worn in water, or while sleeping, or when playing sports. Treat amber carefully and avoid heat, water, harsh chemicals, and perfumes.

•Quality
Amber is not graded by quality; its appeal is purely visual, although the stones with fossils inside are usually considered more valuable because of their rarity. If an amber necklace has beads that mostly match in size, shape, and color, then it is considered a “better” piece, as compared to a strand with irregularly shaped beads and mismatched colors. Other than that type of subjective assessment, though, one piece of amber is essentially as good as the next.

•Legend and lore
Throughout history, amber has been used for a wide range of medicinal uses. It is also reputed to enhance mental clarity and allow the wearer to make decisions from an intellectual perspective instead of an emotional one. Red amber is supposed to exert a calming effect and can also help the wearer detach him- or herself from emotional overreactions and think more logically.

•Care
Clean amber jewelry with a warm, soapy solution with no ammonia in it and pat dry with a soft cloth. Do not immerse amber in jewelry cleaner nor allow it to be steam-cleaned or put into an ultrasonic cleaner. Aagain, amber is an organic substance (not to mention that each piece is millions of years old!) and must be treated with care.