Above, --- a chunk of real amber.
Oooo, --- those fakes!!!... 😮😰😳😫😕😑😡>>>
That's right it's FAKE. And, you're paying high prices for those little dabs of plastic and resin!!!
***HOW TO SPOT FAKES...
Amber is so lovely. It is a traditional wedding gift for a bride. Golden amber is especially prized in amulets as a warm sun stone. BUT, the majority of amber for sale today in mainstream sales is fake...
What???!!!, you might say. Yes, it is... IF YOU ARE NOT BUYING IT FROM A TRUSTED GEMOLOGIST OR AN ANTIQUE DEALER, WHO WILL PERHAPS HAVE OLD AMBER JEWELRY, I'D SAY IT IS VERY LIKELY FAKE. For one thing, real amber, unless it has been treated and buffed, does not have a high shine. It is naturally quite dull and often opaque. It is often of an irregular shape. It is also light weight. At room temperature real amber doesn't have a cold feel, like glass or plastic does.
What is on the mainstream market today is either plastic, glass, copal, resin or amberoid, --- pieces of amber mixed with plastic or resin. If you are buying it from a trendy shop or even any modern shop of any kind, or online or at an online auction, I'd say it's fake. Is it very shiny, very smooth, very clear, very orange or round or does it have a big bug in the clear center of it? It's fake. Is it set in anything less than gold or silver? I'd say it's fake. Is it a large piece and less than $50? It' may be fake. Genuine good quality amber is expensive, especially cognac or green amber. Blue amber is incredibly expensive. Most of the blue amber for sale is museum quality, costing thousands of dollars.
Real amber often has many flaws, which is part of it's beauty. Much real amber is pitted and it is often not of uniform color. However, butterscotch and egg yolk amber is one color, --- gold. Amber looks like a hunk of tree sap. Otherwise, it has a primitive look to it. Forgive me; I don't mean to be rude, but... It doesn't look like a piece of orange, gold or brownish or greenish glass or plastic with speckles in it. Below, are some examples of typical fake amber.
Plastic, above.
Glass, above
I had a facebook friend who took her amber into a jewelry store to have it cleaned... The jeweler said, --- "What am I supposed to be looking at?" My friend was astonished. "Why, amber!," she said. The jeweler just laughed.
Below, is a beautiful piece of very red cognac amber, about the size of a dime, valued at over $150.
A beautiful piece of real amber, above.
If you want to get real amber I would recommend going to Etsy; seek out a reputable seller of antique jewelry who is from the Baltic area of the world, --- for instance, Lithuania, Poland or Russia, where much real amber comes from.
Above, an old brooch from Latvia, --- likely real amber.
Look at the clasp or pin. Does it look old? Since brooches are not as in style today as are necklaces and earrings, a primitive-looking brooch, simply mounted on a pin is more likely to be real amber,
especially if it's very old, from before the time of easily obtained modern plastic.
Or, go to a trusted antique dealer in your area, who might have some real amber from an estate sale.
Put 1/4 cup of salt in 2 cups of water. Dissolve the salt thoroughly. Put your piece in it. If it floats, it's amber. Or, you could simply rub the piece very fast on your hand. Does it give out a woody scent?
Good luck finding real amber.
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