Rock Corner - Amber

Amber is classed as an "organic gem". Other materials that are in the same category are ivory, jet, coral and pearls. It is the fossilised resin of pine trees that flourished around 50 million years ago. The large quantity of resin that these trees produced polymerised and hardened over time and was deposited in sands and alluvial materials. Pieces occasionally contain small insects or other items that became trapped before the resin hardened. It has been used as an ornamental material since Neolithic times. The Romans referred to it as 'succinum' ( from tree sap ). The present name has come down from the Arabic 'anbar'. Amber has a very low density and will float in a concentrated salt solution. The hardness is around 2.5, and it can be quite easily carved into figures, beads or cabochons for setting. The colour is typically yellow to brown, varying from clear to opaque. Blue amber is a rare variety that demonstrates a colour change under the right lighting conditions. Large reserves are found on the seabed of the Baltic, and west of Kalingrad in Russia, also Burma, Canada, China, Italy, Japan, Mexico and the U.S.

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