Fossilised Baltic Amber Necklace

Amber is a fossil resin which comes from trees that flourished along the shores of the Baltic Sea as long as 40 - 60 million years ago. Amber has achieved a stable state through the loss of volatile constituents and chemical change after having been burried in the ground.

Recent scientific studies indicate the probable existence of several resin producing coniferous trees that may account for the variations seen in the colour of amber. Amber is commonly yellow or honey coloured, but hues range from light yellow to dark brown and include lemon yellow, orange, reddish brown, greenish and almost white. Some are so pale that the amber seems colourless. Rare are white pieces with a slight yellow tinge but rarest are reddish, bluish and greenish hues. 

Amber can be absolutely transparent or completely cloudy. It is brittle and breaks with a conchoidal fracture surface. The turbidity of some amber is caused by the inclusion of many minute air bubbles. Resin flowing downward entraps insects and plant pieces which are now of great interest to paleobotanists. 

Amber has been worn as an amulet in Baltic as well as Mediterranean cultures. The Romans believed that amber cured problems of the eye, ear, and throat, as well as headaches and coughs.