Amber Information

Gold of the North

Baltic amber (succinite) is a fossil resin from the Eocene Age which formed under natural conditions over 45 million years ago. In spite of the many processes, which the resin went through to transform into amber, it remains in the fossil stage, i.e. is subject to oxidising and polimerisation. Since this process is ongoing, amber keeps changing so we can assume that it is a “living” stone, friendly to humans. And so, this unique stone has been fascinating humankind for well over a dozen millennia and has been a material for craft and art, as well as a stone thought to have magical and medicinal properties. The largest deposits are found around the Baltic sea.

From a chemical point of view, amber consists of 79 percent carbon, 10.5 percent hydrogen and 10.5 percent oxygen. Studies with a mass spectrometer have shown that amber contains over 40 compounds as well as succinic acids and additive salts of potassium, sodium and iron. Amber extends over three groups of compounds: volatile terpenes and sesquiterpenes, soluble, organic acids and also non-soluble polyether. It ranges from bright yellow to dark yellow or brownish-orange, depending on its age and where it is found, in seldom cases it is either red or blue. Only a small quantity of amber is clear – because of the effects of the sun -, most of it is opaque.
There are also a number of other fascinating facts about natural Baltic Amber – it floats in salt water but sinks in fresh water, its hardness measures 2.0-2.5 on the Mohs scale, its density amounts to 0.96-1.096g/cm3. Burning amber has an aromatic resin taste.

Baltic amber is used as gem stone since the Mesolithic Period. In the Baltic region, the ancient Rome and the ancient Greece( Homer) amber was used for jewellery, for medicine and as a stone for spiritual healing.
Processing: mostly manual work, grinding of weather-beaten crust (oxidation) – shaping – polishing – drilling. Some tumbling and vibrator machines.
Astrological aspect: stone of twin.