Silver Baltic Amber Pendants: Precious Ornaments at a Fair Price

The Baltic Amber has been around since the Ice age, around 100 million years ago. It is as old as the dinosaur fossils found today and certainly older than human beings. It is made from a petrified tree resin and is harder than most of other gemstones like sapphire.

Although it sounds like any other gem that you can purchase at your jeweler; amber is special because of the fossilized insects, leaves and tiny creatures often found in tree resins. In fact, the famous scene of an insect trapped in a gem stone in Jurassic park is none other than a beautiful specimen of amber, costing thousands of dollars. Tree resin is also the reason why ambers come in such a multitude of colors and shapes.

Most of the world's amber is found in Russia, from the Baltic Sea, hence its name; Baltic Amber. Receding and pushing waves reveal amber embedded in the sandy bottom and is then picked up during low tides. Being obviously denser than sea water, Amber can only be fished up from the shore using nets and other contraptions. One would not be able to find floating ambers-if so, it is not an amber.

Baltic ambers come in a myriad of fascinating colors. They sparkle and gleam with a timeless grace and their elegance is unrivalled. While diamonds may be attractive, they simply lack the mysterious qualities that amber has. An amber pursuer is spoilt for choice when it comes to colors.

There are butterscotch colored ambers, red cherry-colored gems, shiny saffron yellow, just to name a few. Unlike diamonds, whose coloring determine its price, desirability and radiance, ambers do not have such discrimination-all ambers are valuable and anything else are just accessories that one may use to customize to personal preferences.

Like jade, amber is notoriously hard to determine if it is genuine or fake. One could do a few tests to determine its quality; although you would probably not go wrong it you purchase your amber from renowned stores like Tiffany & Co. These companies pride themselves in bringing you the best of the best, so you can rest assure that you have got the real deal. However, it is costly so you may want to try some of the tips stated here. You may dip your amber into salt water or heat it.

Real amber will not melt, change quality or tarnish when subjected to such environmental stresses. Of course, if your amber is set in jewel or gold, it is unwise to do such a thing. Take it to a local jeweler to have it evaluated instead. It may cost you a bit, you at least you would have saved a beautiful craft from being ruined. Remember that price is no proof of anything-conmen would just as soon as sell you carbon at the price of diamonds.

After you have evaluated and found that you own real amber, you would want to take good care of it, so that you may appreciate its beauty for decades. You should not store your amber-or any other jewelry-in direct sunlight. Sunlight is strong and will cuse your precious gems to fade with time, or worse, warp its constitution. You do not want to wear a half-warped amber. Other substances to avoid are hairsprays and alcoholic sprays like eau-de-toilettes. Oil perfumes are fine because they are oil-based and will not harm your silver Baltic Amber jewelry.

Having paid much for your amber, it also makes sense to keep it separate from other charms and trinkets for these might scratch and damage the gemstone. A scratched gemstone will not sparkle as brilliantly as it should; this does much unjust to a beautiful gem. If you must clean your amber, please do not use a rough cloth with frayed tassels or a poor quality wipe. Instead, do go out and purchase a special cloth from your local jeweler-it will help to maintain your amber in the best of health always.

You would find it hard to locate another gem to match the mysterious shine of a Baltic Amber. No other gemstone gives off an aura of mystery that warm amber does. Moreover, ambers are not attention-seeking like diamonds; they do not overwhelm your dress or even your personality. It is there-beautiful-to accentuate your person and your style.

Sources:

Kenneth Blakemore and Eddie Stanley, "Retail Jeweller's Guide", Butterworth-Heinemann 2000
Nicky Pierce, "Hallmark Keepsake Ornament Value Guide: Tracker Edition 1973-2005", Bangzoom Publishers 2005