Green Caribbean Amber

admin — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:50:08 +0000

When you read that the so-called “Caribbean amber” was “recently found on an unknown small Caribbean Island” you should give it as much factual credibility as the Treasure Island novel by Robert Louis Stevenson. And start thinking of pirates that are after your money. Or one of the stories of Brothers Grimm. How about “Pirates of the Caribbean Amber”?

This “Caribbean Amber” which comes in greenish tones is nothing else but just artificially colored (pressure, vapor and heat) Colombian copal.

. S ee: Wikipedia: Caribbean Amber

What they have “recently found” was the way to make Colombian Copal look green.

Now, this so called and much advertised “Caribbean Amber” made with Colombian Copal is beautiful, clear, well presented, exquisitely mounted. But it is

far from 30 – 50 million years old – probably less than 2000 years.
de-naturalized
not green by itself
not what commonly is accepted as “amber” (see Wikipedia/amber)
not from the Caribbean, but from South America
not been found “recently in 2005″.

Anything else missing?

So, don’t believe what you are being told. It is just so-called “Business Speech” (BS).

Hardened Colombian copal is relatively inexpensive, because it is a result of mass production. It is by no means a rare natural gem found in some mysterious mine in the Caribbean.

With this we are not saying that it is worthless. To the contrary.

Just look at the pretty strand of beads made from it. Very nice, and surely useful for all kinds of applications. Go to
ColombianCopal.com if you are interested. The might even give you a good deal.

But is the “Caribbean Amber” as exclusive and special as it is advertised?

Is it worth the relatively high price, only because you get this fantastic story delivered with it? Well, you decide for yourself.

And if you can’t afford the real thing, it definitely is a nice surrogate, an “Ersatz-Amber“. But they should at least tell what you are buying. Instead of telling you all kinds of Caribbean stories. You have the right to know it!

The real thing? Is there something like REAL “Caribbean Amber”?

Definitely. You bet there is. And it also comes in natural green. It is found in the Dominican Republic (not Dominica, mind you!!). But it has not been “discovered recently”. To the contrary.

Columbus and the Taino Indians exchanged amber gifts when he arrived on the island he called “La Hispaniola” .

(See Dominican Amber http://www.blueamber.info/dominican_amber.php and http://www.blueamber.info )

Besides the Green Amber (see: http://www.caribbeangreenamber.com one of the specialties of the Dominican Republic is the Blue Amber (see: http://www.blueamber.com ). It is green and blue by nature, not enhanced (they have no idea how to do that), green amber and blue amber just the way it comes from the mines.

There are different versions of green amber, the rare translucent kind (which the above mentioned copy-cats imitate), a opaque green, a green with black stripes (almost marble), a bluish green, smokey green, olive green, but also the regular honey, brown, black etc. and the most rare BLUE, purple, eggplant, teal and what have you.

With all these different shades of natural colors of Dominican amber you would think that nobody has to produce fake green Caribbean Amber. But to the contrary. In natural amber one piece never looks like the other. Most of the time it has some natural inclusions as characteristics that make it unique. But people get brain-washed as you know. They are being told that amber has to be clear, pure, transparent like glass, and they believe it because most of them have no idea what amber and amberization are all about. And because of this, they fall easy prey to the mass industry.

See, industrial amber is much easier to handle, which is a great advantage in mass production. It’s like cookie-cutting. For this reason, most of the Baltic amber also is transformed from its original condition to beautiful beads and cabochons – that look all the same. Most of the typical brown-reddish amber colors, the cognac colors, and many of the others, also the shiny discs called “sun-spangles” and the clearness are artificially produced under pressure and heat in an autoclave adding nitrogen and later in an oven varying time and temperature.

This manipulation is done with other gem stones as well, by the way. But the uninformed public does not know the difference between natural and artificial, and believes whatever is being said on TV and by the press. If you are reading this to get informed, you belong to a minority, believe me.

A renowned scientist, Prof. Dr. Mark R. Mayer writes: ‘First of all, beware of pieces that are too uniform or too perfect. Amberization involves processes that result in imperfection in pieces, imperfections that often give amber its personality. So, bubbles, plant debris, clouds, inner layers, cracks and fissures, insect parts, opacities, swirls and stress lines are present to some degree in most pieces and can help verify authenticity. Beware, for example, of a necklace of perfectly matched, transparent beads — that would be most unlikely.”

Therefore, it proofs again the old axiom: when it looks too good or is too cheap to be true…it is.

Blue Glue on Green Amber?

admin — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 02:06:46 +0000

This is an interesting article I found

Caribbean Green Amber

By Gary Roskin

Publication: JCK-Jewelers Circular Keystone
Date: Thursday, June 1 2006

Valerio888, an amber-jewelry manufacturing company in New York, is promoting Caribbean amber, a transparent green gem material that the company says is the color of the Caribbean Sea. It’s found on an undisclosed small Caribbean island, close to the Dominican Republic, where other ambers have been found.

But there is some confusion about what it really is and a question among amber experts as to how it should be labeled. Visual clues such as sun-spangle inclusions—and confirmation from Valerio888—establishes the material as “heated and pressure enhanced.”Amber can be clarified and shaped by using heat and pressure. Such amber is called “pressed,” and gem identification laboratories, such as the Gemological Institute of America’s Gem Lab, as well as suppliers of the material, are required by the Federal Trade Commission to label it “pressed amber.”

As for the unusual color of the Valerio888 amber, there are a few factors to note. Retired paleobotanist and mineralogist Francis Hueber, formerly with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, notes that green amber is usually “that which reacts to exposure to ultraviolet light. The color is not a pigmentation but a physical reaction.”

But Valerio888’s Caribbean green amber does not get its color from UV fluorescence. Upon close examination of a piece of jewelry supplied by Valerio888, we discovered blue- colored glue beneath one piece of Caribbean amber. Blue color beneath yellow amber creates a green appearance. We did not, however, unglue the amber from the jewelry.

A material called “copal” is similar to amber. Like amber, copal is a resin, but it’s less than 15 million years old and is softer and less durable than amber, which is generally 30 million to 50 million years old.

Maggie Campbell Pedersen, amber expert and author of Gem and Ornamental Materials of Organic Origin , published by Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann (2004), notes that she has recently learned of “baked East African copal” that is supposed to “become amber.” Baked copal tends to have a greenish color. Pedersen says, “I have had some of this material tested, and it retains the infrared spectrum of copal.”

“Maggie Pedersen’s comments are quite well put, and accurate,” says Hueber. He refers JCK to a research paper discussing the lineage of the “amber tree,” including close, copal-producing relatives in West Africa, Mexico, the Caribbean Islands, Brazil, and Colombia. Valerio888’s Web site states, “Caribbean amber is chemically similar to East African copal and was produced by the same type of legume tree.”

Amber is found in the Dominican Republic, “so it is certainly possible that it can be found on other Caribbean islands,” notes Hueber. He also says—based on images on Valerio888’s Web site as well as the ones shown here—that “the color [of this material], however, is quite unique.” Neither Hueber nor Pedersen have held a sample of Valerio888’s Caribbean amber in hand.

Valerio888 believes that blue glue is a commonly used enhancement process. “This technique has been used with amber quite heavily just to play with the color,” says Igor Kulebyakin, representative for Valerio888. “But this particular amber, in any case, is greenish. Well, it does range from like pale yellow to the color that you see. But we’re trying to find the best samples. And as soon as we find it we turn it into jewelry.”

Yes, sure, this is what happens, right?. Check again Wikipedia on this subject. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribbean_amber

Green amber – compare the stories

admin — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:44:04 +0000

Green Amber Jewelry – What is Green Amber?

http://article.abc-directory.com/article/437

Popularity:
Views: 251

2006-08-07 22:52:34
	Article by Cory Willins

Green amber is a form of natural Baltic amber that has a very dark, rich green color. Amber of any color is formed from fossilized resin produced by pine trees, and most amber is between forty and sixty million years old. The green occurs when organic material from plants is trapped within the natural amber, giving the green color. The various chemical compositions and variations on the plant materials that became covered with the thick and sticky resin provide the variations and patterns in green amber.

The tones and shades of green will vary within the amber, and the unique rich colors will captivate the eye and draw attention to the beauty of the gem itself. Green amber is considered to be more valuable than the more common brown amber, but the most valuable and rarest of ambers is the clear and completely transparent amber.

Green amber in jewelry

The beautiful rich colors of green amber make it a natural match for both silver and gold jewelry. Green amber (like all amber), while considered a gemstone, is one of the few gems that is not of mineral origin. The more colored and patterned the green amber is the more the jeweler can use these patterns to work into the setting of the gem. Green amber that also contains fossilized material is very rare and very valuable.

Green amber is a soft gem, and is very warm to both the touch and to wear. It is not cold against the skin like other gems, and amber collects and stores static electricity. Very lightweight, amber is an excellent gem for earrings as it adds little weight to the metal that it is set in.

Green amber is used in making bracelets, necklaces, rings and all other forms of jewelry. Green amber is easily cared for with simple polishing or buffing to remove the slight scratches that may occur on the surface of this soft gem.

We think this article is very interesting. Especially in view of the information you receive at http://www.amerheritage.com/amberjewel.htm

BRILLIANT GREEN BALTIC AMBER ON TODAY’S MARKET

At jewelry and gift shows throughout the country today, you will often see brilliant green amber gems set in sterling silver. This is Baltic amber, but it has been heat enhanced. As with most gems, there are enhancement techniques to enliven and brighten the stone. Remember, the natural green amber is rare and would not be so bright with inclusions and “sun spangles.” Currently, jewelers are applying a dark paste (almost like a paint) to the backs of the amber gems. They then heat the amber in an autoclave to clarify it and cause the fractured discs. The illusion of the dark paste through the honey-colored gem causes the beholder’s perception of green amber. Another heating method is used to create the cherry color of amber. The heated amber is still considered gem quality. Milky, creamy, and lemon amber are examples of natural colors which have not been heated—obviously, you don’t see the “sun spangles.”

Amber Video Collection

admin — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 21:51:45 +0000

Here is a small collection of videos about Dominican amber in general. Enjoy!

Home Shopping Network fooled

admin — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 22:49:11 +0000

It is rather fantastic how quickly bad research is passed on. Now the Home Shopping Network is in on it, peddling what is clearly Copal as Caribbean Amber. The host even says “recently found on Dominica” which, as we all know, is unheard of as well as geologically unlikely. The price is what gives it all away: $39.90 is impossibly low for Amber… but just perfect for Copal.

As the host says: “if you’re in the know, you know.” There are just so many factual, logical and technical errors in this 10 minutes presentation, no further comment is necessary. The whole video serves quite well as an example of simply bad research and snake-oil salesmanship.

But you can say what you want, the host is good at what he does…

Be aware of the “30-days-money-back-guarantee” !

Wikipedia Clears Up Caribbean Amber Errors

admin — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 22:54:03 +0000

Finally Wikipedia has posted an article on Caribbean amber, clarifying what it is. Here is the full article.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribbean_amber