Collection: Amber

Amber is a precious and fascinating fossil resin that comes from prehistoric trees that lived millions of years ago. Here's a look at its main characteristics:

🔶 Origin and training

• Nature : Amber is not a mineral but a fossilized plant resin.

• Age : It can be between 20 and 320 million years old .

• Formation : When trees secrete resin to protect themselves, it can fossilize over time, hardening underground without oxygen.

🧬 Composition

• Amber is made up mainly of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen .

• Its chemical formula varies, but it is often close to C₁₀H₁₆O .

• It can contain fossil inclusions such as insects, plants, or even small vertebrates.

📍 Famous deposits

• Baltic (Poland, Russia, Lithuania): the largest and most famous.

• Dominican Republic : lighter amber, sometimes blue.

• Burma (Myanmar) : very old, often red or dark brown.

💎 Use

• Jewelry : highly prized for its warmth and natural beauty.

• Perfumery : "succinum" (yellow amber) is not used, but "ambergris", an animal product from the sperm whale, is.

• Traditional medicine : once believed to have protective or curative properties.

• Science : allows the study of perfectly preserved ancient organisms.

🎨 Colors

• Ranges from golden yellow to dark brown , including green , red , and even blue in rare cases.

• Its color depends on the fossilization conditions and the plant origin.

🧪 Interesting Facts

• Amber floats in salt water .

• It becomes charged with static electricity when rubbed (the word "electricity" comes from the Greek elektron , which referred to amber).

• It is a window onto the past : some specimens contain insects in perfect condition, allowing for very valuable paleontological studies.