Amber Jewellery Gallery
Amber is fossilized tree resin. Examples of it have been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since the Neolithic times, and worked as a gemstone since antiquity. Amber is used in jewellery and as a healing agent in folk medicine.
There are five classes of amber, defined on the basis of their chemical constituents:
- 1. Succinite (Baltic Amber):This is a type of amber found in the Baltic region (Poland, Russia, etc.) and is known for its high succinic acid content and characteristic color range.
- 2. Burmite (Burmese Amber):Found in Myanmar, this amber is known for its unique fossil inclusions and range of colors, including brownish-yellow and dark brown.
- 3. Dominican Amber:Originating from the Dominican Republic, this amber is known for its transparency and high number of fossil inclusions.
- 4. Romanite (Romanian Amber):This amber is found in Romania and is known for its brownish-yellow to brown, brownish-red, and black color variations.
- 5. Simetite (Sicilian Amber):Found in Sicily, Italy, this amber can be dark red to orange, sometimes yellow or brown, and can be opalescent or strongly fluorescent.
Other ways to classify amber include:
- By appearance: Clear, massive, fancy, cloudy, frothy, fatty, and bone-like.
- By color: Yellow, orange, brown, green, blue, red, white.
- By age: Eocene, Cretaceous, Miocene
Because it originates as a soft, sticky tree resin, amber sometimes contains animal and plant material as inclusions. Amber occurring in coal seams is also called resinite, and the term ambrite is applied to that found specifically within New Zealand coal seams.
