In nature, numerous precious and semi-precious stones of various colors and structures are hidden. One of them is the amber stone, also known as resin stone, jantar, or amber. Dazzling with its warm tea color, amber is actually fossilized resin from an extinct species of pine from the Eocene era, which acts as a time capsule, preserving everything that fell into it before it turned into stone.Valuable and stunning in its charm and color, amber is a proud emblem of Poland on the gemological map of the world, and its most beautiful specimens can be found in the Gulf of Gdańsk.
Etymology
The Polish word bursztyn comes from the German Bernstein, which means ‘stone that burns’. Among scientists and gemologists, it is known as succinite – this is the geological name of the resinous stone, which in turn comes from the Latin form succinum, meaning ‘sap, tree resin’; the name succinum is also used in pharmacy.
A forbidden love story
A very popular story about the origin of amber is the Lithuanian tale of Queen Jüratè and the fisherman Kastytis. Jüratè lived under the Baltic Sea in a beautiful amber castle, where she ruled the sea and all the creatures living in it. One day her peaceful life was disturbed by Kastytis, who was fishing. To maintain peace in the sea, the queen wanted to punish the fisherman, but unexpectedly, she fell in love with the handsome and good young man.When Perkûnas, the god of thunder, learned about the forbidden love between the goddess and the human, he flew into a rage and destroyed her amber castle. Legends say that after storms in the Baltic Sea, pieces of amber from the fallen kingdom wash up on the shore, also known as the tears of Queen Jüratè.
How is amber formed?
However, to obtain a more scientific explanation regarding the formation of amber, we have to go back millions of years, to the southern regions of today’s Scandinavia and areas near the bottom of the Baltic Sea. In these areas, coniferous trees grew, which, as the climate warmed, began to secrete a sticky substance known as tree resin, which, carried by rivers to wetland areas, gradually started to accumulate in volcanic alluvium.The hardening process of the resin was influenced by the heat caused by the proximity of magma and high pressure. As it hardened, the resin first transformed into copal – a form of resin before turning into amber. This process took from 10 to 20 million years. Copal remained underground for several more million years and turned into amber, consistently under the influence of high pressure and heat. The oldest amber stone in the world dates back to about 345 million years ago.
Structure of amber
In terms of chemical composition, amber is a complex mixture of organic and inorganic substances, which is why it cannot be assigned a single formula; however, the average content of amber is about 81% carbon and about 1% sulfur, with the rest being oxygen and hydrogen. When heated to 150 degrees, amber softens, and when burned in a flame of approximately 375 degrees, it emits a pleasant pine resin scent (hence in German, the name for amber means ‘stone that burns’).
On the Mohs scale, it ranks low: 2-2.5 in hardness. Amber pieces have a transparent structure that contains fibrous substances, air bubbles, and even fossils of insects, plants, and small amphibians from the Cretaceous and Cenozoic periods, so-called Inclusions. Inclusions constitute valuable research material for biologists, geologists, and paleontologists. The most popular ambers are those in red-yellow, honey, cognac, gold, brown, bone, orange, yellow, blue, green, and black colors. Colorless specimens are very rare.
Amber jewelry – Custom jewelry
In jewelry, the most valued representative of the amber family is Baltic amber, which is perfect for making jewelry. Our Slavic ancestors already knew this, as amulets carved from amber, as well as beads and pendants, have been found in Stone Age graves dating back to 8000 BCE, indicating that prehistoric peoples revered this gemstone. Today, knowledge about amber continues to inspire people.
Amber stones look fabulous in both silver and gold settings; they are at once very subtle and majestic. Amber-adorned jewelry is a truly elegant accessory for almost any outfit, suitable for women of all ages. We warmly invite you to contact the designer 79 Diamonds, with which you will jointly create the amber jewelry of your dreams!
Fun fact:
Mr. Lucjan Myrta, a Pole, has the largest collection of amber works in the world. Below we provide a link to an interesting article that Mr. Myrta gave to the Gazeta.pl portal: