Baltic Treasure… The Amber

The biggest chunk of amber ever found weights 9,75 kg and its age is estimated at 50 million years! The name AMBER comes from the German Bernstein (the stone in flames). The Slavic term JANTAR was taken from the Lithuanians, as they incorporated it from the Fenician name JAINITAR, which means the SEA RAISIN.

The other names of AMBER used by the ancient were ELEKTRON, LYNCURIUM, SUKCYNIT, SOKAL, ANABAR, KARUBA, AMBRA GALLA, RAF.

Today, amber became a charming material to be used in jewellery.

The Classification And Designation Of The Baltic Amber

Natural Baltic amber (succinct):

the stone subjected only to mechanical treatment (i.e. grinding, cutting, turning, polishing) without any change to its natural properties.

Modified Baltic amber (succinct):

the stone subjected to heat or pressure treatments that cause changes in physical properties, including the degree of transparency and colour, or in similar conditions formed from one nugget, previously cut to desired size.

Reconstructed (compressed) Baltic amber (succinct):

the stone obtained from the Baltic amber pieces pressed under the influence of elevated temperature and high pressure without additional components.

Combined Baltic amber (succinct):

the stone is composed of two or more pieces of natural, modified or reconstructed Baltic amber, glued together with the minimum amount of colourless adhesives needed to join the pieces.

To tag the used modifications, we use the following abbreviations:

N – no modification

H – heating

HPHT – high pressure high temperature

International jewellery and gemmological organizations recommend fully informing customers about any modifications made to the stones.

Classification of amber gemstones acclaimed by the Board of the International Amber Association dated 11.20.1999, with further changes. Last modified on 22.02.2010, consolidated text.