Amber testing

There are fake amber on the market, so it is very important to be able to determine if the amber is real or not, it must be placed under UV light, which will make the phosphorescent color glow . If the amber has formed in rocks, it will glow blue. Rocks have been exposed to heat over millions of years. It also heated the amber inside her. Due to the heat and pressure of the rock, the composition of the amber changes so that it begins to emit a bluish hue.

You can check the piece you have by placing it in salt water (a glass of water will need a good tablespoon or two of salt) - real amber floats. However, this method will not help to distinguish amber from copal. Because copal does not sink in salt water either (relatively very young tree sap, not yet formed into amber).

The surface of the available piece of amber should be rubbed with some alcohol solution (vodka, perfume, cologne). If it is real amber, nothing will happen to it, and if it is rosin or some young sap brought from other parts of the world, then a napkin soaked in alcohol will stick immediately.

You can take a hot needle and try to make a hole in the piece of amber you have. If it's amber, we won't be able to make a hole, because it would require a temperature of at least 370 degrees. If it is plastic or another fake , we will be able to pierce that piece.

You can try to kindle a piece of amber only if it is a simple piece that is not spared. Real amber burns with a very dark flame and emits a dark smoke, and it also smells like incense - very intense, the smell is a little like the smell of incense in a church. After extinguishing, the smell becomes even more intense and stays in the room for a long time.

Not only age is very important for amber, but also the tree from which it was formed. For example, amber formed from the sap of a deciduous tree will be quite different from that formed from the sap of a conifer. A piece of amber can be rubbed hard against some woolen cloth , the real amber gets hot when rubbed and then pulls out small torn pieces of paper.