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Amber Petrified Tree Resin (sap)
Amber is a fossilized tree resin of now-extinct conifer trees and ancient pine trees. It is an amorphous hydrocarbon and may contain particles of various foreign materials, trapped insects, and air bubbles. Its lustre is greasy to resinous. The resin must be several million years old to be called amber. Recently hardened resins are called copals.
Amber derives its name from Middle English ambre, from Middle French, from Medieval Latin ambra, from Arabic anbar ambergris. Since amber is soft, it can be easily scratched. Be certain to store amber jewelry separately from your other jewelry.
Amber is treasured and has been used for centuries in jewelry. It was familiar to Paleolithic peoples and to the Greeks and Romans, who used it extensively in jewelry. It has been used for decoration since the stone age. It is perhaps the oldest substance used for human adornment. Amber beads and pendants were found in Northern Europe gravesites dating back to 8000 B.C.
Jurassic Park made amber famous! The book and the movie used the idea that amber containing an ancient mosquito might be the key to recreating dinosaurs. The basic goal was to remove blood from the gut of a mosquito which had fed on a dinosaur just before being trapped in tree resin which later became amber.
Beware of plastic, glass, synthetic resin and other natural resins amber imitations.
Amber is reputed to be excellent for eyes, and for glandular swellings of the throat and lungs. Amber is thought to balance the endocrine and digestive network.
Amber is also thought to bring good luck. It is associated with time, cycles and longevity. It is also regarded as being highly sensual and magnetic, and it ensures very long enjoyment of the qualities that make the wearer attractive. Amber has long been associated with healing energy and mental stimulation, and is said to balance aggressive traits.
The most famous source of the world's amber is the Baltic coast of Germany. Amber is also found off the coasts of Sicily and England and in Myanmar (Burma). In the Western Hemisphere, there are rich deposits in the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and the state of New Jersey. An especially rich bed of amber in New Jersey has yielded over 100 previously unknown extinct Cretaceous species dating back as much as 94 million years. Because of amber's preservative qualities, the DNA of the specimens trapped inside is intact, affording scientists a unique opportunity to study the DNA of extinct species.
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 Raw amber
Amber can vary in color from yellow to red, from green to blue, but amber's color is usually honey brown. The best commercial amber is transparent, but some varieties are cloudy. Sometimes insects or pieces of earth, leaves, pine needles and inclusions of small plant and animal fossils are present in the amber.
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