amber identification

[betsysbest]

 

 

 

 

 hi, I was given the beads to sell for a friend who was given them by an uncle from Germany who said they were amber. They are very lightweight and under magnification certainly look real. I didn't want to get it wrong so bought UV light. I still think they are Amber. Do you guys agree?

So I decided to try the light on two other pieces I had thought were plastic. One is a piece from Avon and looks good under magnification also. The big triangle is the one that seems odd. Although it fluoresces the same as the amber it really doesn't look like amber under magnification and when I went to a local 2nd hand shop there was exactly the same pendant in there. Would something so big be mass produced in Amber. I found another the same via image search and it was just sold as resin.

Any advice?

[silverstatetreasureboxes]

@betsysbest 

Ohhhhh pretty!!! 

The rocks are doing just what they're supposed to under black light,  yes!

    The Avon one is confusing to me, looks like it but I don't recall Avon selling Amber. They may have.

    The Big one, no its fake, just a plastic resin type material. 

     Can we see the Avon rock without the light?

[betsysbest]

Hi, the Avon one is part of the HS honour society. Given to outstanding agents. It is tagged.

Any idea what makes the big one fluorescent under the light? I was hoping the light would be definitive and i didnt expect it to change colour.

Thanks 

[silverstatetreasureboxes]

@betsysbest 

I was going to ask if that was a specialty produced Avon piece. From what I know, Avon did use sterling/ gems in award type jewelry given out to the selected folks in their organization. So that piece you have is probably the real deal.

    As far as the big one goes, that shape is too uniform or perfect and looks mass produced.  I don't know what properties the manufacturer included into the creation but they were definitely going for the Amber look.

     There are other tests you can perform other than a black light like hot pin test, salt water test ( amber floats) rubbing on carpet to heat up test. 

    Remember that a black light will florescent glow other faux pieces also such as rubies, so that is not an absolute test.

    I like yourself have seen variations of the " big" one on the bay ( like you seen another one at a thrift). The sellers label it Amber look, Faux Amber, plastic/ resin.

     There are many other tests and info on YT about Amber and even about the faux Amber. Hope this helps!

[frommichel]

Hello. As you have discovered, identifying amber can be very difficult. Even so, the strand of beads appears to be heated Baltic amber, as does the Avon item. One way to tell is to look for lilypad discs that can show up due to the heating process (the disks are not always present in every piece of heated amber though). The lilypad disks have pretty-much no thickness - such that, a disk can seem to disappear when you hold the amber at a certain angle. And, there really is no point in someone making a fake that has those disks. The triangle is pretty, but most likely is resin. Yet, it is hard to be certain based on photos - do any of them have any inclusions or variations in color?

[betsysbest]

Lilypad discs is great way to describe what is inside the beads and Avon piece. The beads also have "mossy" bits in, but no insects. I am convinced that the big one is not amber, just disappointed that it fluoresced. Nothing is simple is it.