Does anyone like amber?

[kenny]

I think it is old dried tree sap.
Bugs are attracted to it but get stuck.
Then they get covered by more oozing sap, frozen in time forever.

I have no idea what I paid for this 3" high piece many years ago.
Does anyone have even the most remote clue whether it's worth anything today?



Below is a close up up of the other side of the top.

I turned it around because the amber itself softens the focus and these two unlucky bugs were closer to the surface of the other side.
On the left you can almost make out the ommatidia of the fly's compound eye.
In the original pic, before PS lowered the resolution the ommatidia are clearly discernible.

 

[MieleMelograno]

I love amber!

 

[Harriet]

I do, especially the blue kind.

 

[MieleMelograno]

Me too! I keep eyeing the dominican blue amber at the shows

 

[VapidLapid]

I love amber and those bugs are cool!

 

[T L]

You should check with a forum that perhaps specializes in fossilized material. That's a cool piece Kenny.

 

[DOCSKI]

Actually,I love amber. I am currently designing a parure for my wife of polish amber and bohemian garnets, I am trying for a hearts motif while expressing my Polish roots as well. I am still working on the design part them i will need to find a jeweler to complete it so I figure some times next year.

Docski
- lover of all things shinny and not so new.

 

[empress]

ATG in their "other" section has some amber with insects.

 

[chemgirl]

All I can think of is Jurassic Park.

I have no idea what its worth, but its definitely cool looking.

 

[Selkie]

I don't have any, but I really like it. It can come in a full spectrum of colors. If you bought it years or decades ago, it is probably real amber, but you do have to be careful these days because copal is sometimes sold as amber. While copal is also tree resin, it is not as old as true amber, and has not fossilized. You can test for it using a solvent such as acetone, which will not dissolve true amber.

http://www.ambergallery.com/Is_it_real_amber_/is_it_real_amber_.html

 

[kenny]

Thanks all.

Selkie thanks for the link.
I tried the Acetone test (on the bottom) and the taste test and it clearly passes.
I was careful where I licked and tasted it because some of the bugs reach the surface.

I bought it maybe 20+ years ago and don't even remember where, probably an antique store.
Back then I didn't check for authenticity, so I'm glad you mentioned it.

 

[Arkteia]

I have amber. Real, unprocessed, unworn. Tons. In a huge necklace. There is a thread on the PS, I should find it. But let me tell you, it is not something you wear quite often. It has to match certain clothes.

 

[kenny]

I have amber. Real, unprocessed, unworn. Tons. In a huge necklace. There is a thread on the PS, I should find it. But let me tell you, it is not something you wear quite often. It has to match certain clothes.

Got Pics?

You could wear it to a Halloween party when you dress up as Wilma.

 

[monarch64]

I used to have A TON of amber, in beautiful sterling settings, but I sold almost all of it a couple of years ago. I think mostly people just bought my amber pieces for the silver.

I like the way it looks, though. I had a bracelet set in 14K with amber and onyx and sold that piece as well, but it was pretty spectacular. (Gift from an ex-boyfriend.)

My mother has several Danish sterling pieces set with amber that are TDF. I kind of hope I'll inherit them someday, because they are very artful and pretty, and the amber within the settings (ring and earrings) is really, really cool.

I think wearing petrified bugs is pretty neat! I'd rather wear bugs than, say, pet hair. Yanno?

 

[kenny]

Does the amber you all have have bug inclusions too?
Is that rare or typical?

 

[innerkitten]

I like amber. Especially in older vintage pieces of jewelry.

 

[innerkitten]

Does the amber you all have have bug inclusions too?
Is that rare or typical?

It's more rare. Mostly they have plant inclusions. Some people collect the pieces with bugs.

 

[innerkitten]

Blue? I've never seen that before. Do you have a link?

 

[jstarfireb]

I've always been intrigued by amber, but I don't own any. Probably because I prefer faceted stones over cabs, and I can't say I've ever seen faceted amber!

 

[Gempassion]

Blue amber?! I don't like amber colored amber because I'm not a big fan of orange tones but blue amber is intriguing. I've never heard of it.

 

[Pandora II]

I have some and like it, but I'm wary as much is fake and/or treated - especially the stuff with insects in!

Good tests:

SG: amber will float in a saturated solution of common salt and water - plastics & copal will sink.

Hot-needle test: amber will smell like pine or incense. Copal will have a strong pine-resin smell and the plastics will smell very acrid.

Sectility: scrape with a knife - amber and copal will chip or crumble, plastics will produce shavings.

UV: amber glows blue-white under LW and pale green under SW, copal and plastics are inert.

Insects: look for insects with nicely curled up legs or spread apart neatly. Do they look very like modern mosquitos, flies etc. The real thing tends to look less picturesque and possibly show signs of a struggle by the insect.

Just proving real amber is not always enough as insects are sometimes inserted into real amber which is then resealed. UV is useful for this.

 

[vinkalmann]

Cool piece. I don't know much about amber other than some poking around I did a couple of years ago. Having some sort of insect, plant, etc makes it more valuable. Get a frog in there and you're rich! Here's a site that has some pieces similar to yours, might give you a guestimate on what it might be worth:

http://www.ambericawest.com/better.html

(There were lots of other sites when I last looked)

 

[kenny]

Cool piece. I don't know much about amber other than some poking around I did a couple of years ago. Having some sort of insect, plant, etc makes it more valuable. Get a frog in there and you're rich! Here's a site that has some pieces similar to yours, might give you a guestimate on what it might be worth:

http://www.ambericawest.com/better.html

(There were lots of other sites when I last looked)

Thanks.
Cool link.

Clearly the species of the bugs dramatically affects the value of the amber so I have to identify my bugs.
Bugs that were rare or had 1 day life spans are more valuable.

That site showed a piece of amber that had a lizard.
It sold for $70,000.

 

[Selkie]

Thanks.
Cool link.

Clearly the species of the bugs dramatically affect the value of the amber so I have to identify my bugs.
Bugs that were rare or had 1 day life spans are more valuable.

That site showed a piece of amber that had a lizard.
It sold for $70,000.

That is cool!

 

[kenny]

Can you imagine wearing that around your neck? Yuck!

 

[akmiss]

I wear amber almost everyday and have done so for years. Natural amber worn next to the skin is said to have healing/anti-inflammatory properties. It really does "warm" up next to the skin but that is all I can vouch for.

 

[slg47]

kenny too bad your insects aren't mating...then it would be worth a fortune!

 

[kenny]

Hahaha.

 

[Indylady]

I'm interested in seeing some of the other colors..does anyone know more/have pictures or links?

 

[Arkteia]

I have amber. Real, unprocessed, unworn. Tons. In a huge necklace. There is a thread on the PS, I should find it. But let me tell you, it is not something you wear quite often. It has to match certain clothes.

Got Pics?

You could wear it to a Halloween party when you dress up as Wilma.

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/a-little-bit-of-gold.153371/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/a-little-bit-of-gold.153371/[/URL]

Funny, I have photos (somewhere) from the times they held cultural festivals at my son's school. I am wearing a dress made of Russian hemp with hand-made embroidery, a fox fur, a Russian red shawl and these beads... I do not think posting fox fir is politically correct these days... Anyhow, this fir dates back to very old times. My son is dressed in a semi-Cossack style. No, I do not look like Wilma but good that I do not resemble Glenn Close!