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| Dominican vs Baltic Amber |
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Baltic Amber -- "Absolutely, the finest and …the rarest amber of all." So the slogan goes.
It is a fact that Baltic amber, most of it "succinite" from resin of coniferous trees containing succinic acid, has been known since the dawn of history. Also see: History of Amber
Although, this does not mean that it is the only amber around; neither is it the oldest. Some Amber is considered to be up to 345,000,000 years old (Northumberland USA).
Compared with this, both, Dominican with up to 40 million years (La Toca Mine. See latest studies: New York Times, October 29, 2006 ) and Baltic amber, up to 50 mio, are "babies" and have no reason to be dickering over a few million years here and there.
Neither does succinic acid make it more "amber" than the amber of other regions. It has been suggested by scientists that succinic acid is not even an original component of amber, but a degradation product of abietic acid. (Rottlaender, 1970)
However, natural Amber from the Baltic countries was and is beautiful and extraordinary, full of folklore and history. It still has the fame of the mystic, sacred material of ancient times that carries on. There definitely are still many craftsmen in Baltic countries who keep up this old, honorable tradition.
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But, Alas!, natural Baltic amber in it's original form is not the rule today on a world market, where in these modern times everything has become a matter of price, competition and publicity. As a result, what you often find these days is an industrialized product for the masses and -honestly- most people are not aware of what they are really buying. Many times even the seller, the jeweler does not have enough knowledge of the product or is not willing to label certain procedures as artificial.
The Amber industry in some of the Baltic countries is heavy industry, feeding many thousands of people and therefore the marketing has to be very powerful.
(Picture left: Industrial open pit exploitation of amber in Kaliningrad)
As a result, often beautiful Baltic amber jewelry in all colors is found at malls and flea markets around the world at extremely low prices. How is this possible, you wonder?
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Just as many other gems are treated and stabilized to bring out luster and shine, several of similar treatments are used on amber. Often times, Baltic amber is heated up to discoid fractures, or to produce the famous "sun spangles" (flints or scales). It is being roasted with oxygen to change the color of the surface. Cloudy amber, amber with tiny gas bubbles may be clarified in boiling oil. And some treat it in a vacuum gas chamber or furnace heated with nitrogen or argon.
In some cases, the back of an amber cabochon would even be painted and re-heated to give a certain color to the piece like green on the pieces above. Others are tinted blue, as you can see on the picture below.
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Only... that it is not blue amber, it is just treated,regular amber with some colorants applied.
Like "caviar" made of colored roe of various kinds of fish vs. real black caviar from the sturgeon of the Caspian Sea. See the point? Also see: Colors of Amber
But there are other more brutal methods to get the desired results. There is pressed amber (from small pieces, meal and rejects melted together under high pressure, also called "genuine amber" and even "ambroid" (pieces of amber imbedded in plastic) that are found on the market.
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Pressed amber is generally very even in color, the way you can see it in some commercially available Baltic amber jewelry. Real natural amber as it comes from the mines, never is as even. The best varieties of the pressed Baltic amber are not discernible from natural amber. After the treatment, it still possesses the features of "succinite", so it is permitted to call it "real amber".
This is all fine as long as the customer is made aware of it.
Don't be surprised now. Many of these technics have a long tradition in the Baltic's and it is not considered "cheating" on Mother Nature. Since Roman times this has been a way to get what people want for a price they are willing and able to pay. Therefore many masters used their own technics, like slow heating of amber in liquids or sand or table salt. There is even the story that in the first century Baltic amber was boiled in the fat of a suckling pig.
Now, with this we are not saying that all Baltic amber is treated in one of the ways described above. There are many Baltic manufacturers who do not even improve amber in autoclaves but prefer the soft, lesser brutal methods used for centuries. Some Baltic amber associations even disqualify manufactures who do not use the approved methods of enhancement, but go to the extremes giving Baltic amber a bad reputation..
What we are saying is, just be aware of what you are buying for the price you are paying. Usually, you get what you pay for. And if you are happy with it and it appeals to you, well, why not buy Baltic amber. Many times it is pretty, low in price and and easily available to the broad public.
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 Dominican Amber - It is not "succinite" but "retinite". It is fossilized tree resin from an ancient relative of a tropical species called "algarroba". It is real amber. See Chemistry of Amber and scientific reference literature at the foot of this page.
Dominican amber mines are only a major source of amber during the last 50 years, although its existence has been known about since the times of the descovery of the island by Christopher Colombus. But since there is not much publicity, the uninformed majority knows little about it. Although the book and film "Jurassic Park" gave it quite a boost and told the world about its existence.
The outcrop is much, much less than Baltic amber, therefore it is rare in the true meaning of the word and not found all over the globe. It is the amber that still carries the tradition of being something special, accessible only for a few. Hence, it is not the amber you will see in the Supermarket jewelry store next door.
Industrialized? No way. Here we are much too "primitive" (...is that good or bad?).
Click here to visit a Dominican amber mine
Also check out our new documentation on Dominican amber mines at
http://www.blueamberblog.com
and watch a movie at
http://www.blueamberchannel.com
* Dominican amber is found in a wide range of natural colors, some exclusively Dominican, which also places it as a class apart.
* Dominican amber is not "enhanced" by heat, oil treatment or autoclaved. These technics are not even known here.
* It is cut and polished fossil resin, just the way it comes from the mines.
* No pressed amber or "ambroid" is being used. Amber pieces too small to be used, or amber meal are disposed of.
* It is not industrialized. Whatever is made from Dominican Amber, beads, cabochons, carvings etc. is "hand made" and original. True, all this makes it more expensive. But also more exclusive.
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The occurrence of fossil insects in Dominican Amber is about 10 times higher than in Baltic amber. Dominican amber is also 90 percent more transparent. Inclusions are generally more visible.
See also Fossils in Dominican Amber
Amber from the Dominican Republic can be cut and polished with much success. See also Cut and Polished Blue Dominican Amber
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Especially Asian craftsmen make excellent figures from this material.
 
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To sum it up in a general way:
* If you don't mind industrialized, enhanced and treated amber, and especially if the price is an important criteria: The easily available Baltic amber surely is a beautiful and economic option.
* If you want to be sure that you get exclusive natural amber 100 % in it's original form, "Made by Nature", each piece an original, not treated in any way, we recommend the rare Dominican Amber.
* If you want NATURAL BLUE AMBER, Dominican amber is your ONLY real choice for good quality.
Much information about Dominican Amber, its advantages and how it is mined you will find in the book The Amber Forest: A Reconstruction of a Vanished World by George Poinar, Jr., and Roberta Poinar
You might also want to consult Discovering the lost world of the amber forests by the BBC Radio.
More references see at Amber Literature Links
Oh, and on May 04, 2008, we received the following e-mail from Switzerland: "You know here in Geneva (as well as on most European markets), we simply don't find the genuine Dominican Amber ... Only ordinary and poor qualities of Baltic Amber, which does not interest me at all."
Well, how about that! But of course, it all is a matter of taste and affluence. |
