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| Dominican vs Baltic Amber |
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Baltic Amber -- "Absolutely, the finest and …the rarest amber of all." So the slogan goes.
It is a fact that Baltic amber, most of it "succinite" from resin of coniferous trees containing succinic acid, has been known since the dawn of history. Also see: History of Amber
Although, this does not mean that it is the only amber around; neither is it the oldest. Some Amber is considered to be up to 345,000,000 years old (Northumberland USA).
Compared with this, both, Dominican with up to 40 million years (La Toca Mine. See latest studies: New York Times, October 29, 2006 ) and Baltic amber, up to 50 mio, are "babies" and have no reason to be dickering over a few million years here and there.
Neither does succinic acid make it more "amber" than the amber of other regions. It has been suggested by scientists that succinic acid is not even an original component of amber, but a degradation product of abietic acid. (Rottlaender, 1970)
However, natural Amber from the Baltic countries was and is beautiful and extraordinary, full of folklore and history. It still has the fame of the mystic, sacred material of ancient times that carries on. There definitely are still many craftsmen in Baltic countries who keep up this old, honorable tradition.
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But, Alas!, natural Baltic amber in it's original form is not the rule today on a world market, where in these modern times everything has become a matter of price,
competition and publicity. As a result, what you often find these days is an industrialized product for the masses and -honestly- most people are not aware of what
they are really buying. Often the kind of treatment (enhancement) is not been decared or known to the public.
Many times even the seller, the jeweler do not have enough knowledge of the product or are not willing to label certain procedures the way it should be done.
It is necessary to understand that the Amber industry in some of the Baltic countries is heavy industry, feeding many thousands of people and therefore
the marketing has to be very powerful, and is unfortunately not always truthful.
(Picture left: Industrial open pit exploitation of amber in Kaliningrad)
As a result, often beautiful Baltic amber jewelry in all colors is found at malls and flea markets around the world at extremely low prices.
How is this possible, you wonder?
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Just as many other gems are treated and stabilized to bring out luster and shine, several of similar treatments are used on amber. Often times, Baltic amber is
heated up to discoid fractures, or to produce the famous "sun spangles" (flints or scales). It is being roasted with oxygen to change the color of the surface.
Cloudy amber, amber with tiny gas bubbles may be clarified in boiling oil. And some treat it in a vacuum gas chamber (autoclave) or furnace heated with nitrogen or argon.
In some cases, the back of an amber cabochon would even be painted and re-heated to give a green color to the piece on one of the pieces at the right.
Fact is that both cases, to make these gems, Baltic amber substance might have been used, but heated, treated and colored.
It is a far cry away from the raw amber found in the mine or at the Baltic sea shore. But it is certainly appealing to the eye. Presented in an elegant setting, the common
and unaware customer might feel attracted. Especially if it is commercially praised as top quality and special. And, yes, you can get a certificate that it is real Baltic amber.
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Others are tinted blue, as you can see on the picture at the left.
Only... that it is no blue amber, it is just treated,
regular amber artificially colored. But it is sold as true Baltic amber. Which it probably is.
Like "caviar" made of colored roe of various kinds of fish vs. real black caviar
from the sturgeon of the Caspian Sea.
See the point?
But there are other more brutal methods to get the desired results. There is pressed amber (from small pieces, meal and rejects melted together under high pressure,
called "genuine amber" and even "ambroid" (pieces of amber imbedded in plastic) that are found on the market.
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Pressed amber is generally very even in color, the way you can see it in some commercially available Baltic amber jewelry. Real natural amber as it comes from the
mines, never is as even. The best varieties of the pressed Baltic amber are not discernible from natural amber. After the treatment, it still possesses the features
of "succinite", so it is permitted to call it "real amber".
We think that this is all fine and fair as long as the customer is made aware of it.
Don't be surprised now. Many of these techniques have a long tradition in the Baltic's and it is not considered "cheating" on Mother Nature. To the contrary,
it is considered an art. And - as a matter of fact - you do need a lot of knowledge to make from dull, opaque fossilized resin such attractive and colorful pieces.
Since Roman times this has been a way to get what people want for a price they are willing and able to pay. Therefore many masters used their own technics,
like slow heating of amber in liquids or sand or table salt. There is even the story that in the first century Baltic amber was boiled in the fat of a suckling pig.
Now, with this we are not saying that all Baltic amber is treated in one of the ways described above. There are many Baltic manufacturers who do not even
improve amber in autoclaves but prefer the soft, lesser brutal methods used for centuries. Some Baltic amber associations even disqualify manufactures who
do not use the approved methods of enhancement, but go to the extremes giving Baltic amber a bad reputation.
The International Amber Association (http://amber.org.pl) keeps up a struggle for a fair and clear business practice.
But what we are saying is, just be aware of what you buy for the price you are pay. And if you are happy with it and it appeals to you, well, why not buy Baltic amber.
Many times it is pretty, low in price and and easily available to the broad public. The design of Baltic amber jewelry is definitely appealing and has much beauty.
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 Dominican Amber - It is not "succinite" but "retinite". It is fossilized tree resin from an ancient relative of a tropical species called "algarroba". It is real amber. See Chemistry of Amber and scientific reference literature at the foot of this page.
Dominican amber mines are only a major source of amber during the last 50 years, although its existence has been known about since the times of the descovery of the
island by Christopher Colombus. But since there is not much publicity, the uninformed majority knows little about it. Although the book and film "Jurassic Park"
gave it quite a boost and told the world about its existence.
The outcrop is much, much less than Baltic amber, therefore it is rare in the true meaning of the word and not found all over the globe. It is the
amber that still carries the tradition of being something special, accessible only for a few. Hence, it is not the amber you will see in the Supermarket
jewelry store next door.
Industrialized? No way. Here we are much too "primitive" (...is that good or bad?).
Click here to visit a Dominican amber mine
Also check out our new documentation on Dominican amber mines at
http://www.blueamberblog.com
and watch a movie at
http://www.blueamberchannel.com
* Dominican amber is found in a wide range of natural colors, some exclusively Dominican, which also places it as a class apart.
See: Natrual Colors of Dominican Amber
* Dominican amber is not "enhanced" by heat, oil treatment or autoclaved. These technics are not even known here.
* It is cut and polished fossil resin, just the way it comes from the mines.
* No pressed amber or "ambroid" is being used. Amber pieces too small to be used, or amber meal are disposed of.
* It is not industrialized. Whatever is made from Dominican Amber, beads, cabochons, carvings etc. is "hand made" and original.
True, all this
makes it more expensive. But also more exclusive.
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The occurrence of fossil insects in Dominican Amber is
about 10 times higher than in Baltic amber.
Dominican amber is also 90 percent more transparent.
Inclusions are generally more visible.
See Fossils in Dominican Amber at
:
www.amberinclusions.com
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| Amber from the Dominican Republic can be cut and polished with much success. Even diamond poweder is being used. Whoever gives you a different information probably
lacks the technical knowledge, has only industrial production methods in mind or is just unfair. See:
Cut and Polished Blue Dominican Amber.
Especially Asian craftsmen make excellent, highly polished carvings from this material.
 
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To sum it up in a general way:
* If you don't mind industrialized, enhanced and treated amber, and especially if the price is an important criteria:
The easily available Baltic amber surely is a beautiful and economic option.
* If you want to be sure that you get exclusive natural amber 100 % in it's original form, "Made by Nature", each piece an original, not treated in any way, we recommend the rare Dominican Amber.
* If you want NATURAL BLUE AMBER, Dominican amber is your ONLY real choice for good quality.
Much information about Dominican Amber, its advantages and how it is mined you will find in the book The Amber Forest: A Reconstruction of a Vanished World by George Poinar, Jr., and Roberta Poinar
You might also want to consult Discovering the lost world of the amber forests by the BBC Radio.
More references see at Amber Literature Links
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