What is Amber?

Amber is a soft gemstone that is usually a transparent yellow to a maple-syrup color, but can also appear red, black and even green. Amber is fossilized tree resin. Over millions of years, the molecules in the resin have cross-linked, and eventually formed a natural plastic.

Amber is a fossilized organic substance that was exuded as a sap-like resin by trees that were similar to contemporary pine or spruce. Amber often contains inclusions in the form of perfectly fossilized insects, arachnids, mammalian hair and other organic substances--and thereby captures frozen moments in time from 20-90 million years ago.

History

The earliest known use of worked amber beads was between 7,000 and 11,000 BC in Denmark and southern England. As early as 600 BC, amber's curious property of generating static electricity when rubbed with wool was reported in Greece. The Greek word for amber was "elektron" (meaning "sun gold") and it is the root for the word electricity.



To seal a peace treaty in 1717, the incomparable Amber Chamber was given to Russian Tsar Peter the Great, from Prussia. It was constructed of six tons of amber arranged in ornate wall panels. The Nazis seized the treasure in 1944 and its whereabouts remain unknown to this day. Artists from the People's Master Artists of Applied Art, in Latvia, decided to re-create the lost ''amber room'' in 1975. This project included archaeologists, critics, librarians, archivists and many artists. A new room was created in exacting detail from photographs taken before the war and was opened to the public in 2003. Each panel was re-created using blown-up images to exact the detail and tones of the original panels. More than 3,000 patterns were utilized for just one panel, so it is easy to understand the complexity of re-creating this masterpiece. This is the most famous room in the Catherine Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Care

Amber is easily scratched and sensitive to chemicals, abrasives, acids, caustic solutions, alcohol and perfume. It is flammable and can be ignited with a direct flame. Never use a steamer, hot water or ultrasonic cleaners with to clean amber. Use mild soap and room temperature tap water with a soft cloth so you do not scratch the surface or diminish the luster of the gemstone. Amber can be scratched with your fingernail, so use extra caution.

To determine whether an amber bead is natural or combined with resin stabilizers, heat the tip of a sewing needle until it is white hot. Then insert the needle in an unobtrusive area. If the aroma is pine scented, it is likely natural. Plastic resin has an aroma of, obviously, burnt plastic.

Healing Properties

Long associated with the yellow chakra, amber has long been believed to be a stone of healing, used to alleviate problems of the stomach and liver. It has also been used as a talisman for courage and self confidence.

Occurrence

Amber is found in the area of the Baltic Sea along the coasts of Poland, Germany and Russia. Ancient rivers created deltas of the material washed downstream from forests bearing amber resins. In the Samland area of Poland, amber is found in the "blue earth" clay strata at about 100 feet underground. Amber has also been found in Myanmar (Burma), Sicily, Romania, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Canada and on the east coast of the United States.