Amber an Organic Gemstone

I love Amber!  I think I have said that about every gemstone I have featured, lol.  Amber is an organic gemstone, because it is formed from once living matter.  It is really an awesome thing.  Amber is formed when a specific kind of tree sap, hardens and once living creatures are trapped in the resin, and then fossilize over many many years.  They say Baltic Amber is the number one source, but actually Russia has the largest source of Amber.  Baltic Amber is favored because of its lovely orange hues.  Amber is very light, and has a very low density.  Because of its low density it can float in salt water, but sink in fresh water.  This is one of the ways to identify Amber.  There is faux Amber in the jewelry market.  Enhancements of Amber, are not common, but do occur.  Watch the very cool video below, to help you identify Amber.  If you do a search on this blog, for the living gemstone, you will see a video series I posted a while ago, that talks a lot about Amber, and why it is the living gemstone.    The ring shown at the bottom, is not Amber, but it is a vintage Amber colored glass bead, with leaf inclusions, that I wire wrapped into a ring. It is a nice piece for anyone who loves unique jewelry.  You can see it by clicking  this link