[Jewelry making - Article 00145] - Re: [Orchid] Amber colors....

[jake]

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    I would like to correct something, do not take this personably. This
    statement is false. "However as all amber has microscopic moisture
    bubbles inside, they burst when heated leaving tiny circular
    fractures inside, these marks being the proof that the amber has been
    heated." 

    Here are the facts, "Another popular type of inclusion are "star
    spangles." These internal fractures radiate from a central point.
    While quite attractive, most are human induced." It went on to say
    that those inclusions (being almost always human induced) do not
    fetch the price of an insect. Still would bring a higher price than
    plain. My source is the IGS. If I were more ambitious I could list
    numerous others all saying the same. In other words, this is also
    found in nature with untreated amber. I am not sure of the exact
    process used to produce this, I assume it is quenched, but this is
    done after a cabochon is cut, during a heating process it would have
    been coated with linseed oil. The treatment of Baltic amber dates to
    before the Neolithic, except (we know from archeology) pig fat (lard)
    was used to produce that effect. (Amber workshops dating from this
    period have been found. How do I know? History was, still is, my
    first love. Unfortunately, most of what is written on amber comes
    from old references; accurate when written as far as was known, few
    consult later archeology findings. These push the amber trade far
    back into time.) While, as stated, this occurs naturally, chances are
    (I would not hazard the odds) it was deliberately done. As for proof
    a piece of Baltic amber has been heat treated, if done properly there
    is no test in the world that can do it, as pressure and some heat
    caused by such is necessary to change the resin to amber in the fist
    place.
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