On this page you’ll find all sorts of information about Baltic amber, how it works, what it can help treat, how to care for your amber, common forms of imitation amber, how to identify them, and how to test your amber to confirm it’s authenticity (see our updated test section below). If you get through this page and still have unanswered questions, please visit our Common Questions About Amber page!
Basic Information
Baltic amber is not a “stone” but a natural resin. As it warms with the body’s natural temperature, Baltic amber jewelry releases healing oils containing succinic acid which are absorbed into the skin and bloodstream.
Baltic Amber has some of the highest concentrations of succinic acid found in nature, and this is what makes it so special. Succinic acid is a natural component of plant and animal tissues, and its presence in the human body is beneficial in many ways. Basically you can think of it as a natural Ibuprofen.
Commonly known as "teething jewelry" in Europe, Baltic amber has been a natural remedy for pain relief for hundreds of years.
Amber is also known to reduce inflammation of the throat, ear and stomach and to fight irritation, infections and respiratory disease as it dramatically improves the body’s immunity.
Natural Baltic amber jewelry is a completely non-invasive remedy for side effects associated with teething, such as lack of appetite, redness in the cheeks, swollen gums, diaper rashes, upset tummies, earache, fevers and colds. Baltic amber is also a natural analgesic that will calm your child and is recognized by allopathic medicine specialists as antispasmodic and anti-fever. Many adults report improvement of arthritis discomfort and carpal tunnel pain in their hands when wearing amber on the wrists.
What Can Baltic Amber Help With?
-Pain Relief: Baltic amber contains analgesic properties and helps take the edge off of many types of discomfort associated with dental issues, headaches, joint pain, etc. It is a well known European method to help decrease the pain associated with teething.
-Strengthening the Body's Immune System: In many different and subtle ways, succinic acid helps boost the body's own natural healing ability and immune system.
-Restoring Energy: The human body naturally produces succinic acid. The salt of succinic acid (succinate) is one of the most active substances in the processes of cellular respiration and intercellular energy creation. Succinic acid restores oxygen and energy supply to depleted cells and helps the body return to a normal, functioning state.
-Maintaining Wellness: When the human body reacts to stress, the body’s cells begin to use oxygen more quickly. Oxygen plays a central role in the intercellular creation of energy, and a lack of oxygen can result in feeling lethargic.
(Oxygen is alkaline-forming in the blood and maintaining a slightly alkaline blood Ph helps keep us healthy (see “About Hazelwood” for more information on acid/alkaline blood levels). Whenever the body functions in a state of low oxygen, it is much more susceptible to illness.)
-To Help Break a Cycle of (chronic) Inflammation:
Where chronic inflammation is present, disease lurks.
When the body’s cells are chronically inflamed the human body’s immune system response is to increase production of free radicals. Chronic overproduction of free radicals results in inflammatory-related disease. Chronic inflammation is a common denominator of many seemingly unrelated diseases.
How our Baltic Amber Jewelry is Made
Every natural Baltic Amber necklace is unique because each of the amber beads is unique. So the size, color, shape, and weight of each stone, as well as the length of the piece, will vary slightly. We work with our suppliers to develop consistent styles of color and shape, however as Baltic amber is a natural raw material that must be mined, the end product will fluctuate along with the natural flux in the Baltic Amber market.
Each piece is lovingly handcrafted by Lithuanian artisans who carefully polish and round the shape of each Baltic amber bead so it rests gently against the skin. This ensures maximum skin contact and comfort. The string in each of our amber necklaces and bracelets is knotted by hand in between each and every bead, so should the necklace break (as it’s designed to do if your child’s became caught on something), the rest of the beads will not scatter and only one stone would detach. In the unlikely event that a stone should be ingested, amber is a non-toxic substance and is not harmful. The necklace fastens with a plastic amber colored screw clasp that opens and closes easily.
How to Care for your Amber Jewelry
Because amber is soft and can be brittle, it’s important to be careful that it not come in contact with chemicals. Your amber should not be stored with other jewelry where it can rub against other pieces, especially metals. It is recommended that you place your amber in a soft pouch (flannel and velvet are ideal for this purpose) with a drawstring for closing.
Be sure to keep perfume or hairspray and similar chemicals away from your amber and never place your jewelry in commercial cleaning solutions. Remove your amber jewelry when bathing to keep shampoos and other products from coating the amber. Also remove when applying sunscreen.
To clean your amber, use a soft flannel cloth or an unused toothbrush dampened with clean lukewarm water. Dry in the sun.
Want Even More Details?...
Baltic Amber is fossil resin, which is appreciated for its color, clarity and beauty. Although not mineralized, it is generally classified as a gemstone.
A common misconception is that Amber is made of tree sap, (verses the correct answer, resin). Sap is the fluid that circulates through a plant's vascular system, while resin is the semi-solid amorphous organic substance secreted in pockets and canals through epithelial cells of the tree.
Because it used to be soft and sticky, tree resin amber often contains insects and even small vertebrates, known in the jewelry world as ‘Inclusions’. Semi-fossilized resin or ‘sub-fossil’ amber is known as Copal (see more on Copal below).
Amber occurs in a range of different colors. As well as the usual yellowy-orange that is associated with the color "amber", amber itself can range from cloudy white, yellowish clear, to almost black. There is also red amber (sometimes known as "cherry amber"), green amber, pink amber and even blue amber, which is rare and highly sought after.
Baltic amber is distinguished from other amber from all around the world by the presence within it of high levels of succinic acid, hence Baltic amber is otherwise known as succinite.
Recent scientific research indicates that succinic acid has a very positive influence on the human body. It strengthens the entire body, improves immunity, energy-related processes and the balance of acids.
Succinic acid was analyzed (1886) by the pioneer of modern bacteriology, Nobel-prize winner Robert Koch, who confirmed its positive influence, discovering that there is no risk of the accumulation of surplus amounts of succinic acid in the human organism, even after the introduction of considerable amounts into the body.
In present-day times many effective medicines containing succinic acid have been manufactured and patented, most especially in the USA and Russia. Of particular value are pharmaceuticals that help prevent the aging of human cells, of which many use Succinic acid as an inhibitor as well as an antioxidant.
Real or Fake?
In the middle of the nineteenth century scientists discovered ways to synthesize natural precious substances, including Baltic amber. Today the falsification of amber (especially amber with inclusions) is widespread. Here’s a rundown of the usual list of materials used for amber imitations, and how you can spot them:
Copal
Copal, which was mentioned above, is often sold as Baltic amber. With enough time Copel would become amber, but Copal isn’t truly fossilized. Copal is ‘young tree resin’ (1 thousand to 1 million years old) whereas true amber would be closer to 40 million years old. Natural inclusions are possible in Copal, but usually they are falsified. Insects are inserted in them that are too big and too good-looking. Copal melts at a rather low temperature (lower than 150 C ), and tends to melt rather than burn. However it still will diffuses the "sweet" smell of burning resins, just like real amber, making it difficult to spot.
Glass
Glass is pretty easy to distinguish, it’s more solid, cold to the touch, etc. It can’t be scratched by metal and fireproof, whereas real amber can be scratched and will burn if exposed to flame.
Fenolic Resins
This material is commonly used to product artificial amber beads. These amber beads tend to have very exact shapes (i.e. oval, faceted), the color is very similar to real amber (dark red, cloudy yellow). However after heating it doesn’t diffuse the smell of pine-tree resins, which is the key characteristic of Baltic amber.
Celluloid
Celluloid (cellulose nitrate) is usually yellow and cloudy. Optically it is difficult to distinguish it from amber. Celluloid is more solid and not so combustible. After heating, it diffuses the smell of burnt plastic.
Casein
This is a plastic made from milk. The beads have a cloudy, turbid yellow color. It is a little bit heavier than amber. After heating, it diffuses the smell of burnt plastic.
Modern Plastic
Modern plastic (polyester, polystyrene) are used to produce artificial amber and inclusions that look very real. However like in Copal, falsified inclusions are too big (more than 10 mm) and clearly seen, inserted in the very center of the plastic. After heating, it diffuses the smell of burnt plastic.
*A Note about Pressed Amber...
When small remnants of amber are fused together using high pressure or major heat source, the result is called “pressed” amber. While pressed amber is cheap and relatively available, it will not perform the same way original, natural amber does. Because the original pieces of amber have been compressed, the singular power of each piece is compromised. It is inexpensive to buy but if you’re interested in the the healing aspects of Baltic amber, you will not experience them with the pressed product. Pressed Amber will look more like plastic, perfectly round, no air bubbles or imperfections. However it will burn and smell like real amber, so you have to rely largely on a visual inspection to tell pressed amber from the naturally formed beads.
Obviously none of these fakes will provide the health benefits that our customers are seeking, so we only carry real Baltic amber imported directly from Lithuania in the Baltic region.
How We Test Our Amber...
After experimenting with many of the traditional tests used to determine the authenticity of amber, we have settled on the following methodology to inspect each shipment we receive (see more on these tests in the list of traditional tests further below):
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1.The Smell Test - This test is pretty much unavoidable, when you first open a closed bag of a hundred or so Baltic amber necklaces, the pine scent is pretty overwhelming! :)
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2.Visual Inspection - We handle each piece more than once and are pretty familiar with weight, temperature, and general appearance of real amber.
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3.The Saltwater Test - Several pieces of each shipment are tested in saltwater to check that they float.
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4.The UV Light Test - All of our amber is inspected under UV light to check that it fluoresces (see notes on this test below).
In all of the years that we have been providing Baltic amber we have only had a few instances where customers have contacted us regarding concerns about their amber being fake. 90% of those cases turned out to be due to a misunderstanding about how to test amber and interpret the results. In the other cases the customers were ‘mysteriously reluctant’ to return our emails after we asked them to send us the amber as an exchange or refund item so that we could test the amber ourselves. Finally in the one case where we’ve been able to get our hands on a suspected fake amber necklace we were able to ascertain that it was indeed real after using the UV and Smell Tests (which involved aggressively burning the beads).
One thing that we have learned over the years is that it is actually very hard to do these tests well. As you look through the Internet you’ll find some version of the following list of tests copied over and over again without any more real information. The culprit of most of our false alarms are with the ‘Hot Needle’ test which is terribly difficult to do.
Below is our version of the traditional list, modified by what we have learned. Again we recommend the Saltwater and UV tests as the easiest and most non-invasive ways to test your amber.
Tests that we Recommend as Easy on You
& Your Amber!
Visual Inspection (Not Rocket Science...)
The first thing you’ll want to look out for is plastic, pressed, and glass amber that is obviously ‘too perfect’. Amber beads can be polished to near-perfect rounds, but if all of the beads on your string are totally picture-perfect, something is probably wrong. Real amber has air bubbles, and if clear enough to let light pass, you’ll see imperfections within the bead, cracks, etc. Real amber is warm to the touch and has a slight ‘tacky’ feel (verses slick like glass). It also feels lighter in your hands than you would expect it to.
The Saltwater Test (Easy!)
Aside from looking at your amber, the next least damaging test you can perform is to mix up some salt water (dissolve one part salt in two parts water) and throw the necklace in. Real Baltic amber floats, fakes don’t. (You can try tossing in some plastic or glass beaded jewelry as a control item and you’ll see what we mean.)
The Ultraviolet Light Test (Our Favorite!)
Real Baltic amber will fluoresce under UV light while copal won’t. This is a super easy test to do, particularly if your amber is the on lighter side. You’ll need a real UV light (think LED UV flashlight or florescent tube, traditionally called a black light.) In addition to testing amber, these are also useful in doing your own Crime Scene Investigation, finding scorpions, and traumatizing your children after they’ve wet the bed.
There’s almost no information on how to interpret the results of this test online but we’ve experimented extensively and here’s what we’ve found:
- Milk & Butter and Super Butter show up like yellow highlighter at the Friday night Glow-Bowl. Almost painful to look at, extremely easy to identify the real thing. Obviously you can mimic this with fluorescent plastic, but then under natural lighting the plastic is going to look nothing like real amber, more like a neon ear stud a gothic kid would buy at the mall.
- Lemon and the Lemon bits within Dark Green will fluoresce a bluish color. Most amber UV test information will say that ALL real amber fluoresces blue, but that’s a radical oversimplification and just not true. Amber that is nearly clear (very light lemon) gives off the most bluish color.
- As you shift hues into darker yellows and oranges with shades of Honey, the non-fluorescing colors within the bead mix with the blue color and generate greens and whatnot, with much less brightness. You’ll also note how semi-polish (polished with air instead of water) glow less, the rough surface is not as mirrored as a full-polish bead and naturally absorbs more light.
- Darker amber won’t fluoresce hardly at all. You’ll see almost no reaction in colors such as Cognac and Dark Cherry and their semi-polish variants, Nutmeg and Coffee. Some times you’ll get flecks of bright fluorescence from pocket of lighter color within the beads that you’d never notice with the naked eye.
So there you go, we’re pretty sure that we’re the first to publish this kind of information on how to interpret the UV test. Expect to see the above list copied all over the Internet on other amber sites within the next two years. :)
Below are other traditionally listed tests that are a bit harder to pull off and often involve damaging your amber... :(
The Smell Test (Tricky)
If you’ve read through the above lists of imitations it should be obvious by now that the smell test is the most definitive way to tell real amber from the fake stuff. Natural Baltic amber has that specific pine resin smell which apparently is difficult to obtain when producing falsifications.
Unfortunately most of the tests in this area involve heat and fire and, we’ve found, are horribly difficult to do well, particularly if you are trying to not totally destroy your necklace in the process!
To perform the smell test you have to either burn a bead (hold with tweezers into a candle flame) or, if you don’t want to destroy your jewelry, stick a hot needle into a spot that’s less noticeable. Carefully smell the smoke, if it smells a bit like Christmas (strong pine scent), you’re good. If it smells like burnt plastic, that’s bad.
We found the needle test really hard to do (try holding a hot needle with tweezers!) so if you have a loose bead available and need a definitive answer, burning a bead is the best way to go. You’ll note that that real amber will ‘flake’ and burn in stages, whereas plastic will melt. If you keep it in the flame long enough the bead may even shatter, so be careful that little eyes are not too close to your ‘science experiment’ (yes testing your amber with your children counts as homeschooling).
In theory it is also possible to heat the amber by rubbing it between your palms (to produce the pine resin smell) but difficult if the amber is polished, which usually it is.
Again, this is the number one test that we have people have issues with, they’ve tried to do the hot needle test and/or even burned a bead or two and have mistaken the strong pine and smoke scent as a more plasticty smell. The pine scent is very strong, and doesn’t necessarily smell great to everyone. Let’s just say we wouldn’t burn it as incense in our home. :)
The Acetone Test
This test checks of the solubility of the amber in acetone, you can use alcohol (isopropanol or ethanol) or even nail polish remover. Note that this test is a bit tricky, we’ve not not found it to be terribly easy to discern the results. Put a drop on the amber and let it evaporate some. Copal will dissolve so it’ll be sticky and fingerprints can be made in the surface, amber will be unchanged. Another way is to dip the string of beads into some nail polish remover and in some cases you’ll see the color run right off of imitations. This test won’t hurt your amber if it’s real.
The Scratch Test
Real Baltic amber has a hardness of 5 - 6 on the Moh’s scale so it should be easily scratched by metal. As mentioned above, glass won’t scratch. This WILL hurt your amber (if it’s real) so attempt to scratch in a unnoticeable area (kind of hard to do on an already small bead). Not a great test because it damages your amber and it’s easier to tell amber from glass by temperature and weight (glass is colder and heavier, see the Saltwater Test).
The Polarized Light Test
Place the amber between two sheets of polarized glass, then rotate one of the pieces. You should be able to see a display of rainbow colors in either amber or copal. Plastic will appear unchanged.
The Static Test
Rub your amber vigorously with a soft cloth. Real amber will develop a static charge allowing it to pick up small bits of paper, whereas copal won’t.
IR-spectroscopy
IR-spectroscopy is the most effective scientific method for identifying fossil resins. Baltic amber can be characterized by IR-spectrum segment called "Baltic amber shoulder". If you have a spectroscopy machine at home, you’re all set.
Still have questions? Visit our Common Questions About Amber page!
