 |
Amber Info |
 |
|
 |
Amber Products |
|
|
|
| 0 items |
|
|
|
|
Currencies |
|
|
|
Shopping Info |
|
|
|
|
|
Amber is the fossilized resin of trees. Tree resin takes a minimum of several million years to turn into Amber. Copal is resin that has not fossilized. Copal is not suitable for jewelry nor is it young amber. A very good test to tell amber from copal is to apply a drop of acetone to their surfaces. The acetone will melt the copal but will not affect the amber. All resins are yellow, so any colours exhibited in the amber are produced by phenomena during the fossilization process. Colours can also be caused by inclusions and light refraction.
Chiapas amber is between 22 million and 26 million years old. The resin came from the Hymenaea Leguminoseae tree. Most of the Chiapas amber comes from an area in the Chiapas highlands near the town of Simojovel. I find that this amber is much clearer than other deposits.
There are many ways to simulate amber. Plastics are the most common but are usually easy to identify. It is also common to place insects in real amber, these are hard to distinguish. Low grade amber can be heated to clarify or to add colour. Heat treating can also add disc shaped fractures. ( sun spangles ) Amber powder and chips can be melted into blocks. Most of these products can be identified by looking at a group of pieces and seeing their similar colour and appearance.
--------------- Glen Osborne |
|
|
|
