Amber

[handcrafted]

Would you say amber is a more expensive stone to buy?

[auntynet]

More expensive than what? ;):D

[handcrafted]

Lol, well any other gemstone. Like rose quartz or amethyst or citrine.

[sunshine]

Ohh... Amber is beautiful stone...And could be very expensive...:)
http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:Y6J1DzPYU-F3lM:http://skywalker.cochise.edu/wellerr/mingem/gemtl/amber/6yy-amber1a.jpg

[handcrafted]

Im just wondering as i got a sting of larger chips for £15. Was a reasonable size string and large chips. For anyone whos in Edinburgh i got it from the amber jewellery place that is occasionally in St Johns Church on Lothian Rd.

I love amber, its my favourite stone and always go in there lol. I went in for a nosey and saw a load of chip necklaces that i could take apart lol. The guy kept asking if i wanted a mirror to see it on me so i said that i was plannin to take them apart to make stuff with lol. He then gave me £10 off a £25 string of chips!! Because i was going to make stuff with them. Nice man.

Iv got other bead chips strings for about £8, but they have always been really small chips. These are a fair size. Not huge but a good size non the less.

[auntynet]

I think you got a good deal there. I paid £35 for a string that was about a metre long but the chips are huge, some are about 20mm long! Its just a shame that they are all drilled fairly central cos some of them would have made nice little pendants on their own if the holes had been more to the edges.

Have to say though that its paid for itself cos I've sold about 5 items that I've made from the chips and I've still got loads left.

[Delta]

Yesterday, we went to the continental market thingy in Burnley and there was a stall there selling jewellery with what looked like amber on, and some other things that I am not to sure of.

Wasn't sure if it was proper amber, as all the pieces were small, everything was set in 'silver' I did have a look at a few pieces and couldn't see any hallmarking on at all, so not sure it was Sterling.

But the prices were stupendous, they were asking about £15 for a simple pair of studs, and some of the small pendants, (only a couple of cms at the most) were upwards of £35.

[Pebbles]

Amber is not a stone, or it shouldn't be..... it's fossilized resin from trees.

Although wikipedia does inform me it is sometimes classified as a gemstone.

Interestingly, you can pay thousands of pounds for amber jewellery, especially if there are any insects in it.

I bought some amber from America and it is lovely. Not that expensive either, worked out at about £7 a strand

[goldy1]

It is definitely classified as a gemstone. It's one of only a few organic gems Pearls and coral being 2 others. http://gemologyonline.com/amber.htm

[beckyboo]

hmmm
I bought some amber from vicalla.com a couple of months ago very cheaply
They are lovely pieces and it did make lovely bracelets but I've never put the pieces out for sale because I just wasn't sure about it.

http://www.vicalla.com/shared/StoreFront/default.asp?CS=vicalla&StoreType=BtoC&Count1=950893580&Count2=868034005

what do people think ?, real or not?

If not I'm happy to keep the jewellery as it is very pretty

[Scorch]

If it's becaise they feel "plastic-y" that you're worried they're not real, then fret not. Amber does feel that way...

[beckyboo]

They don't really feel plasticty ..they are very light and get tacky as they warm under my finger...was more really the price that made wonder if they are real..or did I just get a good deal ?

[sunshine]

Well beckyboo....its only my opinion, but amber looks sooooo not real..:)

[goldy1]

Amber has a waxy feel. try putting some in saturated salt water. If it floats it's most probably amber. a more distructive test is to stick a hot needle into it Amber smells piny plastic is an awful smell.

[handcrafted]

Yeah amber is really light. Iv always classed it as a gem stone despite it being formed as it is (yeah i know about the tree thing....i have seen Jurrasic park you know!! ;) ), probably because iv always seen it beside other gemstones.

[Kiamyka]

Becky I went and had a loook and it looks like reconstituted to me - i bought a couple of strings off the web a while back - the stuff I got is absolutely gross and looks so artificial _ I think I may have shown Net it when she came round here . I am so wary of buying amber online so if anyone does know a trustable source I would be happy to hear of it:p

[beckyboo]

thank you everyone for your tips and help

Chris, thank you ...reconstituted makes sense for the price ..It is a lovely amber, I bought 2 lots , the darker is much nicer and looks more like how we imagine amber to look
I may put a bracelet out at the next fair I do and see how it goes...now I need to read up on reconstituted amber so at least it looks like I know what I'm talking about,lol

[auntynet]

I know its a bit late for my reply but I've been away and only just got back.

In my opinion there is no cheap amber - if its cheap then its probably not real, unless it fell off the back of a lorry!

I've bought some myself from Vicalla and its definitely not what we know as "baltic" amber. Its "reconstituted" or "pressed" amber. Thats not to say that there is no real amber content - it just means that they take all the tiny little bits and rather than waste them, they mould/fuse them together with resin so that they can be sold off cheaply or, as in some cases, passed off as good stuff when its not. There is usually some amber content in them but there are no regulations as to how much.

You can also buy "copal" which is real but its not not as mature as "amber" so it is usually a fair bit cheaper. (copal is only a few hundred years old as opposed to amber being millions of years old)

I've done a lot of research into amber and how you can tell if its real or not. If you've bought beads then the best way to test is to mix 15g of salt in 100ml of water. True amber will float in this solution.

If your amber is set into a piece of jewellery then the only way you will ever know if its real is if you damage it. There are a few ways you can test - a hot needle pushed into an inconspicuous area is probably the best way to test. It will "melt" the amber and if its fake it will smell like melting plastic. Real amber smells quite sweet.

This is a good article if you wanna check it out.

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

Hope this has been of some help.

[Beadservice]

Amber is a fossiled resin.

Like all semi-precious beads, the price depends on the quality and the colour.

With amber it's the paler, milky/cloudy colours which are cheaper, and the most expensive is the orangy clear colours with bits of plant material in, and you'd pay a premium if you were lucky to have any with insect life in it too.

Debbie

[Critchley]

I am not especially 'into' jewellery but I do love Amber. I love the warmth in the colour and I love the fact that it comes from trees being a nature lover. (not to be confused with a naturalist). I am fond of Jade too especially the belief that if you give someone a piece of your own Jade you are giving them a piece of yourself.

Mind you, I wouldn't kick a diamond into touch.

[auntynet]

Mind you, I wouldn't kick a diamond into touch.

I have a friend that gives me diamonds - so far I've had 5 diamond rings off her! She's lucky enough to have a very rich fella that likes spending his money on her and when she gets bored with her jewellery, she gives it to either her daughter or me. The last one she gave me was a blue diamond solitaire set in white gold because "white gold looks like silver so it looks cheap". I had it valued by a jeweller friend and its worth around £300!!!!

[Critchley]

Wow!!!

How very nice for you. I would imagine you have been a pretty good friend to her anyway.

My aged Aunt is as rich as Midas and she drapes herself in all this gold coloured stuff - round the neck, wrists and ankles plus the odd broach and there is not a hallmark amongst it all. The joke is that she has left it all to me in her will. I foresee a jumble sale coming on bless her.


Mustn't complain, she is paying for twins to go to good school so what goes round comes round doesn't it.