Amber

Question: What is amber?

Answer: Amber is fossilized resin that was formed after the resin was excreted from extinct, pine like, coniferous trees more than fifty million years ago and hardened into organic gemstones.

Question: What kind of jewelry is made from amber?

Answer: For thousands of years, amber has adorned rings, necklaces, brooches, amulets, cigarette holders, bracelets, and other jewelry. It is still used today in ornamental jewelry and other objects.

Question: What colors does amber come in?

Answer: Amber is known to come in a mixture of yellowish brown colors, from light yellow to dark brown to an orange like hue.

Question: What shapes does amber come in?

Answer: Amber is normally found in nodule or drop shapes but irregular shapes are also found, some pieces weighing over ten pounds. Unlike diamonds and other rock gemstones, amber does not have cleavage.

Question: Where is amber found?

Answer: The largest quantities of amber is found around the Baltic Sea area, but it can also be found in the United States, Italy, Australia, Burma, China, Romania, and other countries.

Question: How do insects and other prehistoric materials end up in amber?

Answer: Before hardening, amber sometimes attracted small prehistoric insects, probably by it's sweet smell. The insects were trapped in the soft, sticky resin and when the amber hardened, the insects were preserved as well. The same thing is true for grains of sand, leaves, twigs, air bubbles, and other materials.

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