Different colors of amber - find out what its color depends on

When we think of amber, we usually "see" a cognac-colored nugget. Meanwhile, more than 200 color varieties of natural Baltic amber are known and described - from light yellow through various shades of yellow to white, bluish, greenish, beige and brown.

What does the color of amber depend on?

From a number of factors that affected the resin flowing from the amber trees in the process of hardening. The color and transparency of amber depends on the internal structure, that is, the size of the air bubbles and their arrangement. The larger the bubbles and the greater their number, the whiter the amber. Thus, in transparent amber (light and dark yellow) there will be no such bubbles at all or they will be isolated and quite large, in translucent (shades of yellow) clusters of gas bubbles will cause turbidity, and in opaque amber there will be a white, sometimes even bluish color. Another relationship is related to geological processes - the more amber "traveled" across the continent, the greater its diversity. In jewelry-making, the one extracted from the world's largest amber mine in Jantar is considered the most useful, as it is low in variety and the most "predictable". Artists and lovers of the beauty of amber, who are looking for uniqueness and rarity, value highly differentiated nuggets most highly. Hence, among other things, the great popularity of so-called ground amber. It occurs in a range of colors from brown to almost black, while in transparent fragments it is greenish - this is the result of contamination with organic matter. Products with this variety can be found, among others, in the offer of Amber Decor.

Natural and improved colors 

It may seem surprising, but not everyone appreciates the rich variety of color varieties of natural amber. Hence the fairly frequent treatments to improve their aesthetic qualities - especially in mass production. Most often they involve changing the color of stones of lesser beauty to lemon, cognac, green, red and cherry. Information about such modification should be given on the product label. 

The price of amber and its color

One of the many factors in determining the price of amber is its color - the rarer it is, the more expensive it is. The rarest is white amber, which accounts for only a few percent of the output and has "always" been the most desirable and highest priced. There have also always been amateurs for white amber, as it was believed to have the most healing properties. To this day, not much has changed in this regard - you have to pay up to several tens of euros per gram for the most beautiful nuggets of white amber. Nowadays, rare milky and yellow varieties are also in demand. Very rare are also natural varieties with bluish, greenish, reddish or even black coloration - these are real rarities for collectors, so it is rather difficult to look for them in jewelry products. 

SUMMARY:

Amber is said to be a unique stone - one of the proofs of this uniqueness is the very rich variety of color varieties. Where do the colors in amber come from and which are the most valuable?