Amber

Amber is the common name for fossil resin that is appreciated for its inherent and interesting mixture of colours and it is widely used for the manufacture of ornamental objects. Although not mineralized, it is sometimes considered and used as a gemstone. more...

Home
Necklaces & Pendants
Chains
Chokers
Lariats
Other Styles
Pendants, Lockets
3-Stone
Cubic Zirconia
Diamond
Other Stones
Angel
Animals
Astrology
Cameos
Circle
Cluster
Coin
Cross
Amethyst
Crystal
Cubic Zirconia
Diamond
Garnet
Gold, Plate/Fill (w/o Stone)
Gold, Solid (w/o Stone)
Jade
Other Stones, Materials
Pearl
Pearl, Imitation
Sapphire
Silver (w/o Stone)
Topaz
Dog Tag
Flowers
Diamond
Gold, Plate/Fill (w/o Stone)
Gold, Solid (w/o Stone)
Jade
Other Stones, Materials
Pearl
Pearl, Imitation
Hearts, Love
Amethyst
Crystal
Cubic Zirconia
Diamond
Garnet
Gold, Plate/Fill (w/o Stone)
Gold, Solid (w/o Stone)
Jade
Other Stones, Materials
Pearl
Pearl, Imitation
Ruby
Sapphire
Topaz
Horseshoe
Letters, Initials
Lockets
Diamond
Gold, Plate/Fill (w/o Stone)
Gold, Solid (w/o Stone)
Other Stones, Materials
Silver (w/o Stone)
Other Styles
Solitaires
Abalone
Agate
Amazonite
Amber
Amethyst
Aquamarine
Carnelian
Chalcedony
Citrine
Coral
Crystal
Cubic Zirconia
Diamond
Emerald
Garnet
Glass
Iolite
Jade
Jasper
Labradorite
Lapis
Moonstone
Mother-of-Pearl
Onyx
Opal
Other Stones, Materials
Pearl
Pearl, Imitation
Peridot
Quartz
Ruby
Sapphire
Sodalite
Tanzanite
Tigers Eye
Topaz
Tourmaline
Turquoise
Stars
Strands/Strings
Tennis, Graduated
Other Wedding Jewelry
Wedding Apparel
Wedding Rings
Wedding Sets
Wedding Supplies
Wholesale Lots

Most of the world's amber is in the range of 30–90 million years old. Semi-fossilized resin or sub-fossil amber is called copal.

Amber is heterogeneous in composition, but consists of several resinous bodies more or less soluble in alcohol, ether and chloroform, associated with an insoluble bituminous substance. Amber is a macromolecule by free radical polymerization of several precursors in the labdane family, communic acid, cummunol and biformene. Labdanes are tetrameric terpenes (C₂₀H₃₂) and trienes which means that the organic skeleton has three alkene groups available for polymerization. As amber matures over the years, more polymerization will take place as well as isomerization reactions, crosslinking and cyclization. The average composition of amber leads to the general formula C₁₀H₁₆O.

Heating amber will soften it and eventually it will burn, which is why the German word for amber is bernstein. Heated rather below 200°C, amber suffers decomposition, yielding an "oil of amber", and leaving a black residue which is known as "amber colophony", or "amber pitch"; when dissolved in oil of turpentine or in linseed oil this forms "amber varnish" or "amber lac". Rubbing amber can produce an electrostatic charge. This property is so well known that the word "electricity" has roots from the Greek word for amber, elektron.

True amber yields on dry distillation succinic acid, the proportion varying from about 3% to 8%, and being greatest in the pale opaque or bony varieties. The aromatic and irritating fumes emitted by burning amber are mainly due to this acid. True Baltic amber is distinguished by its yield of succinic acid, for many of the other fossil resins which are often termed amber contain either none of it, or only a very small proportion; hence the name succinite proposed by Professor James Dwight Dana, and now commonly used in scientific writings as a specific term for the real Prussian amber. Succinite has a hardness between 2 and 3, which is rather greater than that of many other fossil resins. Its specific gravity varies from 1.05 to 1.10. An effective tool for Amber analysis is IR spectroscopy. It enables the distinction between Baltic and non-Baltic amber varieties because of a specific carbonyl absorption and it can also detect the relative age of an amber sample.

Often amber (particularly with insect inclusions) is counterfeited using a plastic resin similar in appearance. A simple test (performed on the back of the object) consists of touching the object with a heated pin and determining if the resultant odor is of wood resin. If not, the object is counterfeit, although a positive test may not be conclusive owing to a thin coat of real resin. Often counterfeits will have a too perfect pose and position of the trapped insect.

Read more at Wikipedia.org