Pseudo-amber regenerated amber: natural amber particles (powder) are melted by heating, usually mixed with linseed oil, and then pressed into large pieces of amber by high pressure. In this process, bubbles will be mixed in. The bubbles in natural amber are generally round, but the bubbles in recycled amber are usually squashed and become long strips. You can see the turbid granular structure under the magnifying glass. The interior of the recycled amber is a syrup-like stirring structure, and sometimes it contains unmelted substances. By magnifying observation, we can see that the reconstructed amber has a granular structure, and on the polished surface, we can see that the adjacent fragments present uneven boundaries due to different hardness. The latest vacuum hot-pressed amber is very realistic, and it is difficult for the naked eye to distinguish between true and false. ?

Synthetic fake amber: Bakelite, cellophane and even acrylic are often used to fake amber, but its specific gravity is too heavy, and it will sink in saturated salt water, while real amber will float. There is a kind of plastic called polystyrene, whose specific gravity and refractive index are quite close to those of real amber. The above methods can't tell the truth, but there is no fragrance when rubbed with a red-hot needle, and these synthetic materials will smell when synthesized. When the small pieces are heated slowly, bakelite gives off a strong electric carbon sour taste, and celluloid gives off a camphor smell. ?

Kopal: This is a modern natural resin, so it can't be called amber, because it is not long enough and hasn't been transformed by pressure and heat for tens of millions of years. Modern technology usually hardens its skin and makes it look like real amber. If you drop a drop of ether, it will dissolve and produce spots, but real amber will not. It melts easily when heated, so it is often added to modern captured insects to make insects. In fact, this kind of resin, which is not petrified for thousands of years, often contains all kinds of insects, which are very similar to real insects in appearance and insect posture. ?

Identification method 0 1. Salt water test method: In the salt water of 1: 4 (salt: water), both resin and amber can float, while light plastic floats and ordinary plastic sinks. ?

Note: Amber with insufficient salt water concentration will also sink. Mahjong at home is hollow and there is air floating on the water. ?

02. Hot test: burn the amber needle in an inconspicuous place (such as the small holes of beads), with a faint pine fragrance or no taste. Plastic will smell and stick to needles; The immature coba butter or rosin needle will easily melt and insert into it, and give off a fragrance. It takes a very experienced professional to feel the difficulty of needle insertion. ?

Note: Improper operation will leave black spots on the surface of amber and make beautiful amber ugly. ?

03. Needle-picking test with a knife: amber will become powder when cut with a paper cutter, resin will fall off in pieces, and plastic will become rolled pieces. Punching holes with a hard needle at an angle of 30 degrees to the horizontal line will feel like a burst. ?

Note: This experiment will damage your jewelry. If you pick out the cut part, you can only find a professional to repair it. The master almost destroyed a feathered witch, and picked it too hard to make flowers. ?

04. Nail polish lotion: Wipe the amber surface repeatedly with a cotton swab, and there should be no change. Plastics, pressure and amber have not changed, but resin and Coba butter will be corroded because they are not petrified, resulting in sticking pits. Rosin will melt slowly when it is soaked in liquid medicine. ?

Note: some amber has a layer of polishing substance, which will turn into white spots when wiped with drugs, but this layer of white spots can be scraped off with nail shells to expose the surface of amber, and it will not change when rubbed with drugs. The liquid medicine still has 18%-20% solubility in amber, and the surface may become foggy after soaking for a long time. ?

05. Feel: Amber is a neutral gem, which will not be very hot in summer or too cold in winter. The overall situation is relatively mild. Use glass or chalcedony to prevent cold feeling. ?

06. Observing scales: This is the most important method to identify silver inlaid amber. Amber generally has beautiful scales of lotus leaves. From different angles, it has different feelings and different refractions. The transparency of fake amber is generally not high, and the scales emit dead light, which is similar from different angles and lacks the aura of amber. The scales and patterns in fake amber are mostly injection molded, so most of them are the same. The most common one on the market is the red scale. ?

07. Eyebubbles: Most bubbles in amber are round, while most bubbles in pressed amber are long. ?

08. Cracked weathering pattern: The back of green beads is generally baked red or black. Tortoise cracks can be seen with the naked eye or under a magnifying glass. ?

09. Ultraviolet irradiation: The easiest way is to put amber under the money detector. Amber will have fluorescence, light green, green, blue, white and so on. Plastic will not change color. ?

10. Friction with static electricity: Amber can attract small pieces of paper after rubbing on clothes. ?

1 1. Expensive appraisal: Take it to CMA Jewelry Appraisal Center to measure the refractive index. I haven't seen many of them given in the appraisal book. It would be perfect if we could find one with density and age. ?

The best test methods: naked eye observation, ultraviolet radiation, hand feel, salt water (bare stone is limited, so it can't be 100% accurate). Even if other methods are true, they will do some harm to amber, and a beautiful piece of jewelry can only become poor waste.