How to distinguish amber from a fake?
Jewelry with amber, since Soviet times, has not lost its relevance - many women, especially those of mature age, prefer them. However, very often customers become victims of scammers. As a rule, on foreign trips, the purchase of a natural stone turns into the acquisition of a fake.
Description of the stone
Natural amber looks like a yellow-orange mixture with an amorphous structure instead of the traditional crystalline one. Natural material weighs little, so jewelry with it is especially appreciated for its lightness and ease of wearing, despite the apparent massiveness. Most of the extraction of natural amber is carried out in the west of Kaliningrad, as well as in the Baltic territory. People go to the Dominican Republic for a unique variety of blue stones.
In general, despite the fact that amber is usually associated with a yellow-orange color, there are variations in other shades: brown, black, red and green.
The saturation of colors and transparency depend on the bubbles inside, the number and location of which can also be different. Naturally modified versions that contain insects, plant elements or pyrites are also appreciated in the market.
The main ways of counterfeiting
The methods of counterfeiting natural amber differ depending on what kind of artificial material is used for this. Most often, fake stone is created from resin, which is much softer and lighter than natural amber. Of course, a stone is forged using plastic and glass, which is important when making cheap jewelry. We must not forget about pressed amber - a special gem formed under pressure.
To create it, cuttings and leftovers are used, as well as dust left after processing large pieces.
The quality of pressed amber is almost identical to the natural sample. Having examined it, you can find a large number of small bubbles, as well as a rather saturated and opaque color. The color, however, will be uneven. Also popular is dug - a young formation from the resinous secretions of the needles of tropical trees. It is difficult to distinguish it from a real stone, perhaps, heating. When exposed to fire, the stone will produce a not very pleasant smell of medicines, while natural amber smells much better.
Copal melts easily, is soft and tough.
If we go back to resin, then both epoxy and cowrie resin make it possible to create a fake. An epoxy product is obtained through chemical experiments. If you lightly warm it up or rub it with a cloth, then a characteristic cutting smell will immediately appear. Cowrie resin is a tree sap from New Zealand that is often used in furniture making.
Cowrie resin looks almost homogeneous and free of any inclusions.
Plastic is quite often sold as amber, but it is easiest to distinguish it from a natural product. It is enough to carefully examine the jewelry, and if a pure shade and a homogeneous structure are found, then this is most likely a fake.
Glass is much more dense than amber, so such a fake is easy to identify by weighing.
How to identify authenticity in a store?
Of course, it is quite difficult to tell whether a mineral is natural or a fake right in the store. However, you can find out some important details with a careful examination. The color of amber is not very bright, in contrast to the rich colors of artificial materials. The structure of the stone is heterogeneous, you can see bubbles and some inserts with the naked eye. Nevertheless, the presence of unnatural "sparkles" speaks of a fake.
It is important to remember that the density of the mineral is not high enough. The stone looks massive, but in fact it is not heavy at all.
The same fake, if large, will weigh enough. Natural amber is quite warm, unlike other materials used to create fakes. Finally, the quality of a fake always seems to be perfect, because it is evenly and symmetrically colored, but this is what speaks of a fake purchase.
If an unusual form of a mineral is acquired with insects or plant elements frozen inside, then a light pebble should be carefully studied, since they are often forged. All third-party objects should be positioned in a free and natural position. In the case of insects, this should remind that they were trying to free themselves.
Going to the store, you should remember that not only individual stones are counterfeited, but also large products, and sometimes even a certain part.
The price tag for fake amber is always high. Naturally, not all methods of checking a stone are available within the store. Nevertheless, you can ask the seller for help - to demonstrate the reaction of the jewelry to ultraviolet rays, to provide a fabric material to test the electrification. Moreover, if this is a reliable store, then qualified personnel will meet you halfway and tell you in what ways it is possible to check the purchase for authenticity.
How to check at home?
Of course, the easiest way is to contact a specialist who will definitely be able to distinguish a real stone from a fake, using special tools. Nevertheless, even at home, most likely, it will be possible to find out if the store was cheated.... The first step is to read about the amber itself - to find out what the original looks like, how it is characterized, how it behaves in various situations.
Further, the check itself should be carried out, and in several ways.
You can try to distinguish a fake by weight. Amber is quite light, regardless of size. Even large and visually massive beads are unlikely to exceed 80 grams in weight. Therefore, you should immediately think about if the purchased jewelry turns out to be too heavy. If organic raw materials are used for further transformation, for example, a stone will be inserted into the base for a pendant, it makes sense to think about a scratch test. A natural gem, when exposed to a razor or knife, crumbles immediately, almost to a powder, while the plastic turns into shavings.
If the fake is made of glass, then the effects of the test may not appear on it at all.
Salt water testing is considered one of the most effective methods. Since the weight of the material is too small, the stone does not sink, but continues to remain on the surface. Unfortunately, this method is appropriate for testing crystals without any base or decorative elements. In a situation with beads, it can happen that the beads remain in the middle of the vessel, not moving in any direction. In this case, you should separate the beads and see what happens next. Most likely, some of them will go to the bottom, and some will float up, which means that the beads are of poor quality.
To create a saline solution, it will be enough to use a regular glass of heated water and 3 teaspoons of salt. It is relatively easy to check the condition of the amber by rubbing it against a natural cloth, for example, silk or woolen.
At the same time, a real stone receives a negative charge and the ability to attract small pieces of paper to itself.
When using some more complex test methods, for example, requiring the use of chemicals, it is important to ensure that the destructive effect does not exceed 3 seconds in duration. Otherwise, the stone will become covered with specks or change its beautiful color. In this case, we are talking about alcohol and solvent.
A three-second interaction will not harm amber, but plastic and other fakes will obviously start to deteriorate.
Such a check is carried out, for example, using acetone only on the inner surface of jewelry. After the experiment, the remains of acetone are carefully removed, otherwise they will negatively affect the state of amber.... Any non-standard effect - the appearance of stickiness, the appearance of viscosity, the deterioration in appearance - says that this is a fake, most likely made of plastic.
You will be able to appreciate the naturalness of the stone if you set it on fire. It is enough to touch the amber surface with a red-hot needle. The fused amber gives off a white smoke with a rosin aroma - with a slight sourness, but at the same time quite pleasant. In this case, plastic and other synthetics will certainly give off a different odor.... Sometimes it is not necessary to act with fire, since when rubbing a natural sample with a palm, a slightly coniferous smell will begin to appear.
A good solution is to place the amber under ultraviolet rays, if possible. All layers and tiers in such a situation should shine slightly with a bluish tint of varying intensity. If the stone was initially cloudy, then the glow will turn out to be light blue, and the bone variety will play with almost milky overflows... Ultraviolet light, by the way, allows you to see the existing bubbles, cracks and undulating transitions. If the amber is fake, then it will not glow. The rays just seem to pass through it without creating any effect.
In addition, it turns out that there are no bubbles, and the mineral itself is completely homogeneous.
If we talk about professional testing, then the hardness of minerals is also assessed in accordance with the Mohs scale. The required figure is from 2 to 2.5 out of 10, and for cheaper counterfeit counterparts, it barely reaches the range from 1 to 1.5. Separately, it should be clarified what the smell may be when the temperature rises or other exposure. Since amber is a hardened resin, warming it up, you can feel the lasting aroma of the needles of trees. It will be natural and very enjoyable. Any other smells - burning inherent in burnt plastic, burning paper, burning cotton wool - signal the unnaturalness of the acquired object.
How to distinguish amber from a fake, see below.
