Amber Jewelry Blog...

Saturday 19th May 2012 06:30:03 PM •

Arts: Classical Studies

What is amber?

A common misconception with Amber is that it is tree sap; it is actually fossilised resin from ancient forests. The tree resin is exuded for a number of reasons such as protection for an injury to the tree, protection against biological or insect attack etc. The resin has then hardened and been preserved in the earths crust. Although Amber is regarded as a gem it is actually an organic substance that does not have the organic matter replaced by minerals. Pieces of amber are not cold and hard like most other gems. I have seen it described as 'organic plastic' to try and describe its weight and texture. Whilst I understand this description I think it takes away from the mystery and romance of this gem. Amber is also sometimes known as Succinite.

What are the different colours?

The huge variety of colours and the uniqueness of every piece is partly what makes this gem so popular. There are over 250 identified shades. The differing shades are due to the kind of tree the resin came from, the inclusions, the age of the amber and also the area in the world it comes from. Although amber deposits can be found all over the world there are only approximately 20 where it can be commercially mined.

Academic Departments • Chats and Forums • Classicists • Journals • Organizations •

What are Inclusions in Amber

Inclusions are small objects which become embedded in the resin prior to it hardening and are part of what makes this gem truly fascinating. It was the very inclusion of a mosquito in a piece of amber that started the fictional theme park 'Jurassic Park' and it was at this point that Amber became more popular and fascinating to a wider audience in modern day. Because of this tree resin it means that anyone can own something that is millions of years old. This is part of its charm and romance.

A variety of small animals have been caught in these resin 'traps' such as fleas, ticks, millipedes and mosquitoes as well as items like seeds, roots, spores and Lichen. What I personally find the most fascinating are the ones that got away! Pieces of amber have been found with animal paw prints and have, on rare occasions, contained a few hairs or feathers from animals that have fled from its sticky clutches. All of these inclusions have enabled scientists to build an accurate picture of some of the plants and animals these forest contained and build more accurate pictures of earth in those times.

Amber From the Baltic.

The class of organic gemstones is quite small, but includes some unusual varieties which are important in the gem trade, including pearl, coral, ivory and amber. All the organic gems are rather unusual, but none more than amber. Amber is the fossilized hardened resin of the pine tree, Pinus succinifera, formed mainly in the Eocene epoch of the Tertiary period, about 50 million years ago. Amber has been used since prehistoric times for jewelry, amulets and religious objects. The most prized pieces contain inclusions of insects or plants or pyrites.

Yellow, orange and brown are the most common colors for amber, though rare blue amber is found in the Dominican Republic. The term "amber" has entered the English language as the color that is halfway between yellow and orange. The clarity of natural amber ranges from transparent to opaque. Most pieces have bubbles or inclusions. When polished amber has a resinous luster.

Unlike most gemstones, amber is amorphous rather than crystalline. It is fairly soft, with a rating of 2-2.5 on the Mohs hardness scale. While it is durable enough to have survived for millions of years, it is sensitive to acids, caustic solutions, gasoline, alcohol and perfume. It will burn if ignited by a match, releasing an incense-like odor.

One of the most unique characteristics of amber is that it is exceptionally light. It has a density or specific gravity of only 1.05 to 1.09. Amber is so light that it will float in salt water. Amber's low density makes it difficult to imitate with glass or plastic, which have much higher densities. By way of comparison, the total volume of a 5 carat piece of amber is 2.5 times the volume of a 5 carat piece of zircon (one of the denser gem materials).
GemSelect is a leading online dealer in fine gemstones, specializing in amber, sapphire, spinel and tourmaline.
Visit our website: http://www.gemselect.com/

German • Italian •

What has Amber been used for?

Currently Amber is enjoying a resurgence in its popularity as a gem that can make truly unique and beautiful jewelry, but has had many varied uses in the past.

The Romans used it in coins amongst other things.
A variety of religious objects including rosaries.
Amber attracts lint with static electricity when rubbed.
In the past it is thought to protect the wearer from kidnapping and aging and keep evil spirits away.
Cure for a variety of conditions such as headaches and rheumatic pain and enhance fertility.
Amber brings the wearer good luck in a variety of situations from going to war to getting married.
Often used as grave goods for a variety of reasons.
Thrown into fires to release aromatic fragrances.

Amber has always been popular and its use can be traced back to Neolithic times. The uniqueness of the gem has inspired different cultures throughout history to marvel, wonder and sometimes kill for it. We have always loved Amber and so it was only fitting that the first web site we set-up was to sell Amber Jewelry. The article is drawn from many years of reading about amber to satisfy our curiosity. My sister and I hope this will be the first of many articles on this fascinating topic. Please visit our site http://newamberjewelry.com/home to see if you agree with us regarding the diversity of this gem.

A Bibliography of the Ancient Novel - An initial bibliography of the ancient Novel, related genres and interesting secondary literature, with more than 2000 items.
Alexandria on the Web - Materials on the relationship between cosmology, philosophy, myth, and culture, sponsored by the Alexandria journal.
Ancient History Sourcebook - Extensive selection of links, study guides, and articles pertaining to the ancient Near East and ancient Mediterranean worlds, as well as some public domain translations of classical texts. At Fordham.
Ancient Scripts of the World - Indexed by region, with articles on writing systems, sounds and phonetics, historical linguistics, and related study materials.
Centre for the Study of Ancient Documents - The Centre for the Study of Ancient Documents was established in 1995 under the auspices of Oxford University's Faculty of Literae Humaniores to provide a focus for the study of ancient documents in Oxford.
Classical Literature/Language at About.com - Collection of resources and links pertaining to the Greco-Roman authors and literature.
Classical Studies (humanities.classics) FAQ - Frequently asked questions for the newsgroup humanities.classics. Includes bibliographies, glossaries and compendia of mythological characters. Maintenance ceased August 2000.
Classics Technology Center - A repository of tools such as guides, games, and glossaries for educators and other classicists, to enhance the use of computer technology in classics education.
Classics Unveiled - Portal to three reference and resource sites for ancient Roman history, culture, and daily life; Greek mythology; and Latin vocabulary words.
Corinth Computer Project - Extensive multimedia site incorporating historical, literary and archaeological information from Corinth, Greece during the Roman era. Suitable for scholars, students, and the public at large.
Diotima - An interdisciplinary resource for the study of patterns of gender around the ancient Mediterranean and as a forum for collaboration among instructors who teach courses about women and gender in the ancient world. Includes course materials, the beginnings of a systematic and searchable bibliography, and links to many on-line resources, including articles, book reviews, databases and images.
Greek 'n' Stuff - Learn biblical Greek or classical Latin. Bible nuggets. Homeschool links/classical links/family pages.
Greek and Latin Language Resources - A collection of Classics links from a Graeco-Roman Neo-pagan site.
Internet Resources for Classical Studies - Book reviews, bibliography, and language, art, culture, and mythology links for students of antiquity. From Indiana University.
Leuven Database of Ancient Books (LDAB) - Searchable database aiming to catalog all ancient literary texts with information including a description of the text, language, medium, authors, current location, and plates. Sponsored by the Catholic University of Leuven.
Library of Congress Resources for Greek and Latin Classics - Resources for studying Classical and Medieval literature.
Library, Bibliographic, & Lexical Resources - "Library and Textual Resources Bibliographical Assistance Periodicals Publishers' Catalogues and On-Line Bookstores Grammars, Lexical Resources ... " all related to the Classics.
Literary Resources - A list of classical and Biblical-oriented websites maintained by a professor at Rutgers University.
Maecenas: Images of Ancient Greece and Rome - Images of Ancient Greece and Rome, free for non-commercial download and use.
Orange St. Press Classics - Free classic literature in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). View online, download, print.
Shakespeare's Sources Online: Latin and Greek Authors - Lists links to translations and texts of classical sources used by William Shakespeare.
Stoa Consortium - The Stoa Consortium provides a venue for the exploration of innovations in scholarly communication, with a focus on Classics and Classical Archaeology. It hosts numerous classical electronic projects, guides to best practices, fora, a CVS and a weblog.
Studies in the Classics - Essays, texts, and studies on classical literature and language from Prof. William Harris of Middlebury College.
Summer Courses in the Classics - A list of classics courses offered during the summer by colleges and universities throughout the world, sorted by discipline and subject of study.
Text Tools and Lexica - From The Perseus Project. Includes an English/Greek Word Search, English/Latin Word Search, Liddell Scott-Jones Greek Lexicon, and Lewis and Short Latin Dictionary.
Textkit - Language learning site which provides free Greek and Latin grammars, reading material, classical e-books and other learning resources and downloads.
The Internet Classics Archive - Provides 441 online works of classical literature with a powerful search facility. A booklist links directly to relevant pages in online bookshops. Classical trivia questions can be posted and answered.
Torrey Philemon's Muses - Articles on mythology and ancient Greek/Roman literature, and resources.
Voice of the Shuttle: Classical Studies - A large index of links to various classical history, art, archaeology, language and literature journals, texts, syllabi, forums, and other resources. From the University of California at Santa Barbara.
What Do You Want to Know Today? - Includes searches on indexes to scholarly journals, dictionaries, image archives, listserve archives, online translators, and Classics web search engines.