The beautiful gem that makes up the focal point for our collection of jewellery is called amber.  Amber is the fossilised resin (commonly misconceived as tree sap) which oozed down prehistoric trees occasionally trapping debris, seeds, air bubbles, pine needles, pollen and even insects.  Amber gems that have a clearly visible insect immediately increase in value, partly for scientific reason (for example trapped insects may hold the clues to how the world used to exist as dramatised in Jurassic park) and partly for their use in amber jewellery.  It is commonly thought that the resin produced is designed as a defence mechanism against disease caused by insects and fungus as well being used to heal a wound such as a broken branch. Although amber is not of mineral origin it is widely considered to be a gemstone.

Formation:

Amber is formed when the resin becomes buried amongst sediments and soils and fossilised through a process known as polymerisation. This process of polymerisation takes millions of years and since amber is generally found within cretaceous and tertiary sedimentary rocks it would suggest that amber is in the region of 30-90million years old! Its starts when the most volatile oils in the resin evaporate which causes the resin to harden and eventually form an amber gem. This gem will hopefully become anything from a scientific time capsule to a beautiful piece of amber jewellery

Location:

Amber deposits can be found almost everywhere on earth.  Some of the most prized amber jewellery is made from Baltic amber which is found in the Baltic region and is where the largest deposits of amber exist. Baltic amber is approximately 40million years old. Another popular location of amber deposits is the Dominican Republic; the amber from this region is not as old as Baltic amber but in general contains more insect inclusions.  Baltic amber has been discovered in Poland, Germany, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Denmark, Sweden, Holland, and even the United Kingdom.  Amber is also mined from places such as South America and Africa and has also been known to wash up on the shores of places such as Denmark, Norway and England.