G E M S TO N E S
AMBER’S ATTRACTIVE APPEAL
Amber and gold rings
by NAC Amber.
Although amber has been used in various ways for thousands of years, with
artifacts found as far back as the Stone Age, its popularity surged when the
film Jurassic Park was released—the skepticism of being able to actually
create dinosaurs from DNA found in mosquitoes trapped in amber notwithstanding. Today, amber continues to rise in popularity, as more people discover its natural beauty enhanced by innovative designs in silver and gold.
Amber
pendant by
Art 7.
By Cynthia Unninayar
Since most of the world’s amber comes
from the Baltic region, Amberif is the perfect venue to showcase the interesting
and beautiful creations made with this
living gem. Held in Gdansk, Poland, the
19th Amberif fair took place last March
and attracted more than 6,000 visitors
from around the world who came to see
the products of some 400 exhibitors.
“Amberif is an excellent opportunity to
establish business relationships and get
an overview of trends,” said Ewa Rachon,
Amberif Project Director. “While the last
three years have been difficult for the industry, things seem to be turning around.
We are pleased with the results. We also
see companies adjusting to the trends
and to new generations of consumers,
with some offering a wider range of patterns and jewellery, using amber mixed
with gilded bronze, gold, silver, steel, and
leather straps.” She also added that next
year, the fair is moving to a larger, more
modern and convenient facility, named
Amber Expo, near the stadium.
Among the foreign buyers at Amberif was
first-time visitor Robert Levine, owner of
the Fire & Ice retail stores in Maryland. “Although this was my first time at Amberif,
I have been working with amber suppliers from the region for many years. We
were the first retail store to carry amber
jewellery, going back 25 years. We carry a
broad range of cast production pieces in
silver and amber, many with a whimsical
theme, as well as one-of-a-kind pieces,
all of which sell well. We also found new
suppliers and confirmed a number of orders. I might add that one advantage of
coming to Gdansk was visiting its beautiful old town. My wife and I were able to
Amber, gold, and diamond bracelet by NAC Amber.
Nuggets of raw amber, showing different textures,
colours, shapes, and sizes (photo: IAA).
spend several hours there and loved every
minute. We found the Polish people to be
helpful and friendly, not only at the fair, but
everywhere. We will certainly return.”
Among the highlights at Amberif were the
designer gallery, the design contest, and
the Amber and Fashion Gala where both
jewellery and fashion designers collaborated on collections that featured stylish
clothes and creative amber jewellery on
the catwalk. A number of museums, scientific agencies, historical associations,
and other organizations were also present,
along with a series of educational and promotional events.
Very importantly, to ensure buyers’ confidence, Dr. Ewa Wagner-Wysiecka of
Gdansk University of Technology, ran a
special laboratory at the fair to test amber for its authenticity. At the same booth
was a large display of real amber products along with many examples of fake
amber and the various products used as
imitations.
Dr. Ewa WagnerWysiecka, Gdansk
University of Technology, standing before a
display of fake amber
at the lab’s booth at
Amberif. As a service
for buyers, the lab ran
spectro-analyses of
amber samples to verify
their authenticity.
Malbork Castle, the largest medieval castle in Europe, was the capital of the Teutonic State and subsequently the seat of Polish kings.
Its history is interwoven with that of amber, which became the source of the commercial might of the Order during the Middle Ages.
Since 1961, it has housed the Castle Museum collection of historic and modern works of amber art.
A Bit About Amber
The origin of amber is steeped in myths
and legends. The ancient Greeks believed
it was the tears of the Heliades. The ancient writer, Nicias, wrote that amber was
the juice or essence of the setting sun that
congealed in the sea and then washed
onto the shore. It was considered magical
by some, both as a protection and for its
medicinal properties. (Even today, amber
is used for various healing effects—the
subject of a whole other article.) During
the Neolithic period, amber cornerstone
offerings were placed underneath houses to protect the inhabitants. It was also
worn by Roman gladiators to ensure their
survival in the arena.
Another Roman, though, Pliny the Elder,
in the first century, suggested that the
mythical origins of amber were just that—
mythical. He felt that amber was actually
the resin of a pine-like tree. Indeed, the
Romans called amber succinum (from
the Latin sucus meaning sap or juice)
because of its resinous nature.
Inclusion of a small flower in amber (photo IAA).
Amber is found in many places around
the world, but the most well known is
from the Baltic region, where it was created at least 40 million years ago from
a sticky resin from trees that lived in the
“amber” forest in what is now Scandinavia.
Over millions of years, the resin fossilized into amber. Although not an actual
mineral, it is still considered a gemstone.
Since the fossilization process is ongoing,
and amber continues to change, it can be
thought of as a true living gem.
Gierlowska’s Lizard,
purchased for the Gdansk
Amber Museum by the L.
Kronenberg Bank Foundation
(photo: M. Jabłonski).
Inclusion of a small spider web in amber (photo IAA).
This gem comes in several colours, with
the most common being yellow-orange,
but it ranges from white to light lemon to
brown and even near black. Uncommonly,
it can be red, green, and blue (rare and
found mostly in the Dominican Republic).
Amber can also be transparent or cloudy
and opaque.
As was so sensationally demonstrated in
Jurassic Park, amber may contain inclusions of insects, as well as spiders, plant
remains, hairs, feathers, bubbles, and even
small lizards, the most famous being Gierlowska’s Lizard, immortalized in amber, on
display at the Amber Museum in Gdansk.
The museum also has one of only two
known pieces with a solifuge inclusion.
Organic inclusions have been studied by
scientists for over 150 years, and provide
the basis for describing nearly 3,000 species of animals and almost 300 species
of plants, invaluable information about the
era when amber was forming. Inclusions,
make amber even more collectible.
One of only two known pieces with a solifuge inclusion, donated to the Gdansk Amber Museum by the
L. Kronenberg Bank Foundation (photo M. Szczerek).
G E M S TO N E S
Pendant in amber
and silver by S&A.
Art and Jewellery
Amber has been used for centuries for
jewellery and art objects—and even for
medicinal purposes. During the 16th and
17th centuries, celebrated craftsmen
used amber to make large coffers, religious items, and altars as well as items
of everyday decoration and use. The
Castle Museum in Malbork Castle (near
Gdansk) has one of the world’s most famous collections of early amber artwork
and jewellery. For the museum’s 50th
anniversary, it was totally renovated, under the direction of its curator, Dr. Anna
Sobecka, and now provides a splendid
setting for these extraordinary pieces.
Among modern day amber craftsmen,
Lucjan Myrta (who was awarded Amber Personality of the Year by the International Amber Association, IAA), is
the most famous, having created items
ranging from small statues to very large
pieces of furniture. Myrta is dedicated to
keeping amber crafts alive by translating
them into modern as well as traditionallyinspired works of art.
The Castle Museum in Malbork Castle near Gdansk houses a remarkable collection of
historic and modern amber objects and jewellery. Left: An amber Madonna and Child
altar from Gdansk, around 1680 (photo: Dr. Anna Sobecka).
The amber jewellery seen at Amberif encompassed a wide range of styles and
types. Most used the traditional yellow to
orange colours set in silver, while others
displayed gold and diamond combinations, as well as stylized pieces on steel
wires or leather cords. The multitude of
styles seen at the show were just as
fashionable as fine jewellery found anywhere in the world. The most interesting aspect of amber is that each stone
is different in terms of colour, inclusions,
shape, and size.
Since most companies are small and
family-run, their jewellery tends to be an
expression of many individual designers.
Since pictures convey more than words,
a few examples of amber jewellery from
some of the more prominent Polish companies are shown here.
Pendant and ring in amber
and gold by Ambermix.
Pendant in amber and
silver by Paragon.
Ring in amber and silver
by Zimmermann Design.
Brooch in amber and silver by Art 7.
One of the intricate, life-size cabinets made in amber
by Lucjan Myrta (photo: IAA).
Model dressed by fashion designer Ilona Kanclerz wears
amber jewellery created by Danka Czapnik at the Amber
and Fashion Gala (photo: IAA).
M. Gronkowski
won the Design
contest with this
amber and pearl
ring evoking the
marine origins
of amber.
Classifications, Treatments, and
Imitations
As for other gem types, amber is sometimes subjected to treatments when used
for jewellery. The most common acceptable treatment is a heating process allowing jewellers to obtain transparency, the
desired cognac colour, and air bubbles
called “scales.” In order to clarify treatments and types of amber for the industry
and consumers, the International Amber
Association has developed the following
classification of Baltic amber gemstones.
Natural Baltic Amber (Succinite)
Gemstone, which has undergone only
mechanical treatment (e.g. grinding, cutting, turning, or polishing) without any
change to its natural properties.
Modified Baltic Amber (Succinite)
Gemstone subjected only to thermal or
high-pressure treatment, which changes
its physical properties, including the degree of transparency and colour, or shaped
under similar conditions out of one nugget,
previously cut to the required size.
Reconstructed (Pressed) Baltic Amber
(Succinite)
Gemstone made of Baltic amber pieces
pressed under high temperature and under high pressure without additional components.
Bonded Baltic Amber (Succinite)
Gemstone consisting of two or more parts
of natural, modified, or reconstructed Baltic amber bonded together with the use of
the smallest possible amount of a binding
agent necessary to join the pieces.
In the Bay of Gdansk area, amber has long been gathered on the shores or fished out with nets on long poles from boats.
It is currently extracted hydraulically, from a depth of several meters, from the shallow sandy and sandy-clay layers of the
Holocene. Water is forced into holes and the resulting pressure brings the amber nuggets to the surface (photo: IAA).
Just like in the gemstone sector, there are
a minority of unscrupulous dealers that sell
fake amber as the real product. Among
the many imitations are glass, plastic, synthetic resins, natural or modified sub-fossil
resins (such as Colombian copal or New
Zealand kauri copal), pressed Baltic amber with the addition of plastic or copal,
and amber crumbs embedded in natural
and artificial resins.
Amber imitations are not new, and are
produced nearly all around the world. Although fake amber has different chemical and physical properties, it can sometimes be difficult to tell it from real amber.
Pressed amber, however, has the same
properites, making this even more difficult
to distinguish. Purchasing from a trusted
dealer is therefore important.
To ensure that customers can feel confident in purchasing real Baltic amber, the
IAA has established a system of certification and recommendations for companies,
which attests to “the correctness of the
processing method, the good quality of
the entire product, as well as to the company’s reliability.”
This certification is a guarantee of the authenticity of the raw material—exclusively
Baltic amber—and thus offers protection
against fakes and substitutes.
Amber nuggets and debris forced up through the ground
during the extraction process shown above (photo: IAA).
Recommended companies must comply
with the Amber Classification System created by the IAA.
People have been fascinated with amber
for thousands of years, whether as a material for beautiful art and jewellery, or for
its supposed medicinal or magical properties. And, there can be no doubt that the
attraction and appeal of amber will continue for many eons to come.