What is amber?
There are two things needed in order to form large amber rings , amber and a jeweler, but in order to form amber stone – time and pressure. This is true for most gemstones. Amber is formed when tree resin is trapped for example in sand and then when time goes by, it becomes more and more solid till it forms stone like substance which is amber. There are only few places on the world where relatively large quantities of amber are found. Amber in recent years has gained popularity around the globe, it is sought after because of its unique looks, different feel, medical value and energetic potential. Amber is used to make jewelry, art , medicine and exclusive collectable items.
What is large amber ring?
Usually, rings have small gemstones because they are very expensive. Amber is less expensive than more widely known stones as diamonds and emeralds. Therefore, it is possible to use relatively large amber stones for manufacturing rings within a reasonable price range. Size of amber stones used in rings varies from few millimeters in diameter to several centimetres. The selection depends on several factors as style of the ring and whether it is intended to be worn on daily basis.
What types of large amber rings there are?
Most rings with amber gemstones are made similar to rings with other gemstones. They are made from platinum, titanium, silver and gold. Metals are chosen in accordance with the style and purpose of the particular ring. Amber is found in sizes notably larger than any other gemstone , this allows jewelers to make amber rings in extraordinary manner in addition to usual ways. In this section I have summerised types of large amber rings categorized by manufacturing manner and by metals thay are made with.
Made with silver
Silver probably is the most popular metal from which amber or any other ring is made, because of its relatively good price and because it is easy to shape and work with. In situations when ring needs especially big casings for amber stones, which are at least few centimeters in diameter, it often becomes too expensive. In those situations cheaper metals are used to case amber stones since most of us cant afford those precious metals in such amounts.
Made with gold
Gold and amber go together very well because of the amber and gold colours. Amber mostly is found in yellow colours with impurities which gives them character. Together these colours looks beautiful, the drawback is the price tag for this kind of rings. But if you have the means, it is worth the money. If you are going after the best looks imaginable for amber rings then gold always will be a better choice than silver, silver just does not go together with silver as good as gold.
Elastic amber ring
The unusual thing is that some amber rings can be made even without any metal. This is a modern and innovative way and is realized by attaching amber pieces together with an elastic band. You can imagine it as an elastic bracelet just on your finger.
If we think of other precious stones like diamond or emerald, it would not be rational to make ring out of lots of stones. First, it would be very expensive, secondly, it would be not pleasant to wear such stones around your finger. Diamond and almost any other gemstone is extremely hard substances and additionally, they are good heat conductors, this means that they would feel cold. However, amber is an isolator and will feel warm and pleasant when it touches skin also it is lightweight. Therefore, it makes sense to make such interesting elastic rings from amber stones.
Monolithic amber rings
This kind of amber ring is truly unique, it is made from one big amber stone. Or in other words, the professional jeweler carves out amber piece in form of a ring. As you can imagine this is one of the most expensive amber rings one can get and in most cases is made to order.
What about amber colour?
It is estimated that there are about 240 shades of amber colours. Similarly, to diamonds, amber price depends on its colour. Since it is possible to find amber in wide range of colours, it is hard to describe them all. I am going to describe the most common and most desired colours in this section of article.
Yolk yellow
This is one of or possibly the most sought after color of amber stones in the world. It is the rarest and is found in Baltic region. It is believed to be one of the oldest types of amber and its deposits are the deepest in the ground. In the picture below you can see this amber type used in making a wall, this is considered vey exclusive and can be seen only in few places in world.
White amber
White amber is also one of the rarest amber colors out there; it is often called bone amber because of its white color. I personally have seen some few examples of white amber jewelry, untreated small amber pieces made in to necklace looks like bone pieces. Also, some individual white amber pieces with some inclusions looks truly unique and looks similar to mineral with gold veins.
Black amber
Black amber is a myth. Amber which seems as black in poor light condition, in brighter light is seen as red. This amber type is not as rare as yolk yellow and white amber but still is relatively rare and is popular material for unique jewelry and as collectable. “Black amber” or rather Red amber is found in Baltic region.
Blue amber
Blue amber colour similarly to Black (Red) amber’s colour is another misconception. The assumption of the existence of blue amber comes from the fact that certain type of amber exhibit luminescence. This luminescence can be seen with human eye as blue color. This amber is found only in Dominican Republic and in reality is dark coloured, only when irradiated with Ultra Violet light, it becomes a bit blue. The blue colour is not rich and lasts only as long as the UV light is shining on it.
These are top 4 rarest amber colours and therefore also large amber rings made from these ambers will be beautiful, extremely unique and will cost accordingly but definitely less than diamond rings which in contrast are boring.
Other more common amber colours are yellow and brown. It is possible to find maber stones in any brown and yellow shade imaginable. Stone shades range from light yellow/brown transparent stones to dark-coloured completely non-transparent stones. One of the most beautiful stones are those who are semitransparent and have a honey like colour.
What about large amber ring prices?
Let us talk about prices. Who does not like low prices, the lower the better, right? Not really, very low prices could be an indicator of fake product. For advice on how to evaluate the authenticity of amber, go to the next chapter of this article. The price of large amber ring depends on several factors:
- Materials. Logically, if gold is used instead of silver or steal, then the piece will be more expensive.
- Amber type. Some colors of amber is more expensive than others, for example blue amber would be much more expensive than honey like colored amber.
- Amber size. This factor is straight forward, the bigger the stone, the bigger the price.
- Design, how much time the jeweler had to put in the piece.
- Brand. We all know how much brand can add to the price but not necessarily to the true value of the product.
To give you an estimate, a silver ring with relatively small amber stone- few millimetres in diameter would normally cost about 30-50$. Anything less than that would be suspicious, it could be fake amber.
Larger stone rings can go up to 300 – 500$ because of the stone size and the precious metal added to it.
Where to buy large amber rings?
Amber is mined or found and then used to make jewelry in a relatively small region of the world.It is mined in Baltic States and small region of Russia which is close to Baltic States and in Ukraine. This means that if you ever are visiting one of these countries, it is worth to look at the many shops, which sell amber goods. These shops in most cases are located in Old City and have a variety of pieces to choose from.
If you are not planning to go any time soon to this region, you will have to use one of the many online vendors, which are selling amber goods online. In most cases, you will be okay with any of the stores online. As in all other businesses and vendors online, there could be quality and other problems but that’s hard to predict. If you are afraid of this, then a good practice with new online vendors is to use PayPal.
How to tell if amber is fake?
There are quite a few ways how to determine if amber is fake or real. Each of these methods has their positive and negative aspects. Depending on what kind of amber one has, you can choose the most appropriate method and determine the legimaticy of amber.
Hot needle or burning method.
This method is straightforward and is the simplest way to determine the legitimacy of any amber product. You start by getting a needle, preferably, long one and something with what you can hold it safely, for example, eyelids. Get a lighter, candle or any other fire source. Now get your amber piece and needle, take the needle and heat it up. Dont go crazy with heating, heat it for about 10 seconds and then put the needle in contact with your piece. Get the amber to melt and evaporate, then smell the smoke. The smoke will have this distinguished smell which is natural. The main goal of this test is to understand if your piece is made from plastic or real deal.The disadvantage of this method is that you will damage the amber stone and leave a smaller or bigger mark.This method is suitable for pieces whisch have backside which is not seen easily like large amber ring backside. This method will also be a good idea in case of raw amber.
Salt water test
This is another simple method of testing whether your amber is real. You will need a cup or bucket depending on the size of your amber, fill 2/3 of it with water and the remaining 1/3 with salt.Help the salt dissolute within the water and then put your amber in it, if it is real it will float, if not it will sink. Advantages of this method is that it will not damage your gemstones in any way.The disadvantage, it will only work for those jewelry pieces which are naked- without any other gemstones or metals attached to amber.
Visual test
This test is based on characteristics of amber and will work only if you know what are you looking for and will work only in some cases. This works for amber which Is transparent or semitransparent. In most of these type of amber stones you will see some texture, some differences of density and slight changes of colour. Nature is not perfect and most stones will not be a perfectly transparent substance like glass.
Ultraviolet light test
This test is not recommended to amateurs, it will most certainly fail you if you are not an expert. I am mentioning it only as a warning. This test relies on the fact that some types of amber exhibit luminescence when irritated with UV light. There are several problems with this method. First, not all amber stones has a luminescence visible by naked eye, those stones who have in most cases has week intensity. Second, the number one fake amber material is plastic, and some plastics also exhibit luminescence when irritated with the same UV light. This means that you could be fooling yourself very easily.
Absorption test
This is the safest and surest way to determine the originality of amber. But this is also a scientific method. The absorption spectra is unique for every type of amber and is very easy to differentiate from popular fake amber materials. If you have pieces you want to check which does not allow you to use any other methods, then it is advisable to take your jewelry to closest university or company which tests amber.
There are quite a few ways how to determine if amber is fake or real. Each of these methods has their positive and negative aspects. Depending on what kind of amber one has, you can chose the most appropriate method.
Tips for buying large amber rings online
As in every jewelry and gemstone business, there are those who are selling fake stones. I already wrote about ways how to test your amber in the previous section of this article. But its better to know how to watch out for fakes In the first place. Here are some tips on how to do it:
- Look for too perfect inclusions. If the seller is offer to purchase amber stone with inclusion which has a bug which is perfectly placed in it , there is high possibility that this is a fake. Additionally, if the stone is completely clear ,then it is a red flag.
- Vendor is selling stones with the exact same inclusions. Inclusions of insects in amber is extremely rare thus it is not possible to have two identical inclusions.
- Although some small amounts of amber is found all around the globe, the safest bet is to choose those vendors who are located in Baltic countries -Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. These are countries with rich amber history and lots of local unique jewelry shops.
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