Looking for an Amber expert

JaxDee · ‎04-05-2010

I just got the Or Paz Sterling Oval Amber Cabochon Ring J282612. The silver work is great and the stone is a good color. My question is about the interior of the amber itself.

It is a thick piece of amber and it is almost perfectly clear - which doesn't bother me - only a few little floaty bits around the edges. My only issue is one big occlusion just off center in the amber. It is almost a perfect circle of microscopic bubbles or cascading cracks - I can't tell. At an angle it looks like a big 4th of July starburst firework all issuing from a center point. From the side, you can see that it is doesn't go from top to bottom only in a slice in the middle. From the front, it looks like and opaque circle blob that a first glance looks like a man-made mark. I was sure it was man-made from small clamps or something when I first saw it. Now I'm not so sure since it isolated to just one slice deep in the center.

I know nothing about amber. Are microscopic bubbles explosion natural?

ennui1 · ‎06-23-2013

On 4/14/2014 JaxDee said:
Are microscopic bubbles explosion natural?

Yes.

michlynn · ‎08-22-2012

I was watching the Global Artisan Crafted Silver Show last night and they were showing an amber necklace. The guy said that they way to make sure it's natural amber and not pressed is to see bubbles and other things in the amber. Check out the video for J269974.

Pagan · ‎03-27-2010

I remember the days when we used to pay extra to have spiders and insects in our amber.

I still have two of those Lee Sands necklaces. Capitalizing on the success of the new movie 'Jurassic Park'.

Kachina624 · ‎03-10-2010

Consider that Amber is fossilized tree sap. Anything that could happen to sap, can be found in Amber. This could include insects (if you're lucky), bubbles and all kinds of debris. It should never be clear like a citrine.

New Mexico☀️Land Of Enchantment

HandJive · ‎12-28-2012

Sadly, shopping online we can't hand-pick gemstones to suit our taste. You can get an idea what Amber looks like by doing a Google image search, and viewing examples. All examples are not created equal!

Annoying as it is to do so, if you're not happy with the appearance of the Amber you received, you have the option to send it back for an exchange.

ladybuglainie · ‎04-10-2010

When I sold jewelry, they taught us is you can visually see a bug(s) of any kind in your amber it can be quite valuable. Bugs are a very good thing in amber!

JaxDee · ‎04-05-2010

Thanks for the help. I'm still on the fence about the amber. The ring is beautiful. I was hoping there would be lots of stuff in the amber - like it shows in the QVC photo. This spot in the middle is messing it all up. It may or may not be natural. If there were more other things in it, an opaque spot wouldn't be such a big deal.

I'll live with it a few more days, but will probably send it back and hope for a better amber next time. Thanks again!