How to Find Real Amber Jewelry

Amber is a very interesting material, it is fossilised tree resin (mostly from conifers) that goes back to several million years ago. As resin is a very sticky substance insects often ended up trapped in it and the resin became their eternal grave as it solidified to turn into amber. That is why it is not unusual to find insects inside amber drops. Now a pendant or a pair of earrings with a small insect or even a flower inside are sought after items.

There are two main types of amber: Baltic amber which comes from the area around the Baltic states and Russia (but some people says it might extend to Germany, Poland and the Ukraine) and Dominican amber which comes from the Dominican Republic. While the former is nearly always the classic amber colour, yellow orange the latter can also be found in red and blue. Blue amber is rarer and therefore more expensive. There are also different types of amber coming from other parts of the world such as Sicily, Borneo, Canada, Mexico and so on. Some of these ambers are younger (10 million years instead of the 40 million average of the Baltic amber). Baltic amber is more malleable and can also be pressed and moulded therefore it is possible to find more intricate jewellery made with this type of amber.

Amber has been used in medicine, jewelry and to make perfumes for thousands of years. The Ancient Egyptians believed that amber had the power to protect the dead in the afterlife, that is why amber amulets were made and placed in tombs with mummies. Wearing amber necklaces and amulets was meant to relieve people from headaches, arthritis and a variety of other common and painful ailments. Amber was also used in balms and infusions to treat anything from bronchitis to indigestion.

Whether you believe in its magical powers or not, with no doubt, like pearls, amber looks good in jewellery, its colour and the way it reflects the light makes it an unique object that looks particularly good with silver but also works quite well with gold. As amber differs in look and color, according to the location it was found, you will see that it is quite common to mix different types of amber in the same piece of jewerly to create lovely effects. You can find amber rings earrings, necklaces, brooches and pendants but you need to be careful when buying it as there is lots of fake amber around. Nothing new here, one of Conan Doyle's books had Sherlock Holmes investigating the industry of fake amber in England. If you warm a drop of amber in your hand or by stroking and rubbing it with your sweater you should smell a faint scent of pine and camphor. Another reliable test is to add two and a half tablespoons of salt to a glass of water. Real amber will float, any imitation will sink. As when rubbed amber releases static energy the Greek word for it elektron is the root for the word electricity.

You might have heard of the famous Amber Room that used to be found in the Catherine Palace in St Petersburg in Russia. It was made entirely of Baltic amber,including all the objects and decorations and was called the Eighth wonder of the world. It was gift to Peter the Great by the Prussian King Frederick William I.to celebrate the friendship between Prussia and Russia. It was loved by the Czars and was one of the most famous rooms in Europe, it was to have am almost mystical internal light. In 1941, part of Operation Barbarossa, the Nazi invasion of Russia was to pillage all art works from Russia and take them all to Germany, the Amber Room was high on a list as it had been made by Germans. It was dismantled piece by piece and taken to Knigsberg's castle where it was reassembled and stayed there for two years.

In 1943 the Amber Room was taken apart and all its content placed in twenty-four large crates. Since then the Amber Room has disappeared. Some said that it was destroyed during some Allied bombing or by the Soviet army who did nor realize what was inside the crates. Although there was an alleged witness to what remained of the Amber Room after a bombing there was no further evidence and burning 24 large cranes of amber would be difficult not to notice because of amber would burn like incense. In the 1990s some objects that belonged to the Amber Room reappeared at auctions, one belonged to the son of a German army officer but was not aware of where hid father got it from. It might be that more objects will be found again in the next decades or that the mystery of the Amber Room will never be solved. In St Petersburg there is now a replica of the old Amber Room which can be visited.