Lapidarium
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Amber

Fossil tree resin, forty million years old, that gave electricity its name.

Family
Fossil resin
Formula
C₁₀H₁₆O (approximate)
Mohs
2 to 2.5
System
Amorphous

Science

Amber is resin from ancient conifers, polymerised over millions of years. Baltic amber, about 44 million years old, contains succinic acid and floats in salt water. It traps insects, feathers and even small vertebrates with cellular detail. Blue Dominican amber fluoresces blue in sunlight from hydrocarbons in the resin.

Mineral
Fossil resin
Formula
C₁₀H₁₆O (approximate)
Crystal system
Amorphous
Mohs hardness
2 to 2.5
Specific gravity
1.05 to 1.10
Refractive index
1.540
Lustre
Resinous
Colours
Honey, Cognac, Butterscotch, Blue

Composition

C₁₀H₁₆O (approximate). Made of Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, with trace Sulfur responsible for colour.

in formula trace, gives colour

Origin

  • Russia
    Kaliningrad, most of world supply
  • Poland
    Baltic coast
  • Lithuania
  • Dominican Republic
    blue amber
  • Myanmar
    Burmite, 99 million years
  • Mexico
    Chiapas
  • Ukraine

Filled dots are primary sources

Rarity

Common
2 of 5

Baltic amber is mined by the hundreds of tonnes; pieces with well-preserved insects and Dominican blue amber are scarce.

  1. 1 Abundant
  2. 2 Common
  3. 3 Uncommon
  4. 4 Rare
  5. 5 Exceptional

Hardness

Amber sits at 2 to 2.5 on the Mohs scale. A steel knife will scratch it; it suits pendants and display more than rings.

Fingernail
Copper coin
Knife, glass
Steel file
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Energy

Associations from crystal-healing tradition, recorded here as folklore. They are not medical claims.

Chakras

  • Solar Plexus
  • Sacral

Element

  • Fire

Zodiac

  • Leo
  • Aquarius
  • Taurus

Planets

  • Sun

Properties

  • Warmth
  • Vitality
  • Cleansing
  • Protection
  • Patience

Lore

Thales noted around 600 BCE that rubbed amber attracts feathers; the Greek for amber, elektron, became 'electricity'. The Amber Road carried it from the Baltic to Rome; the Amber Room of the Tsars, looted in 1941, has never been found.

Baltic tradition wears it against illness, and teething necklaces persist despite no evidence and real choking risk.

  • Test
    Floats in saturated salt water; plastic imitations mostly sink.
  • Oldest
    Burmese amber preserves Cretaceous insects, lizards and a dinosaur tail.