However, at present, the natural colors of amber are rare red, orange, green, brown and even white besides the generally visible yellow.
The beeswax commonly used in the market is also a kind of amber, but it is opaque and has different characteristics from amber, so it is often mistaken for two different gems. Amber is a native natural ore, which is easy to embrittle, so the jewelry industry allows it to go through some procedures to make it difficult to embrittle. In this process, natural gas bubbles in amber will change due to temperature, such as expansion or rupture, thus forming internal patterns of different shapes. Crystal flowers formed by crystal flowers are usually irregular, rather than artificial regular circles.
The above methods are recognized and allowed by the jewelry industry, so they can't be regarded as imitation or unnatural, but some practices make people feel very despised. For example, synthesis means grinding natural amber into powder, adding some plastic raw materials, and reheating to synthesize regenerated amber! The natural structure of amber has been seriously damaged, and some of it has even been dyed with dyes. Among them, many crystal flowers that burst due to heat are mostly round with dense rules, but it is difficult for ordinary people to identify them, and even some merchants strongly advocate that the more crystal flowers, the more precious they are.
Beeswax is amber, but its color is different from translucent amber. Because of the high content and opacity of succinic acid, merchants call it beeswax, so the real beeswax has the same function as amber. When the beeswax is worn for a long time, it will gradually become transparent amber due to the decrease of human body temperature.
When amber burns, it will produce the smell of turpentine, not the burnt smell of plastic. This is one of the identification methods, and the other is suitable for completely saturated salt water test. Real amber will float, otherwise it will sink. But this identification method is not completely correct.
The method of identifying the authenticity of beeswax is the same as amber. Generally, it is burned. If it is not convenient to burn, you can puncture beeswax or amber with a fine needle after heating, and then pull it out while it is hot. If black smoke and rosin smell are produced, this is real amber. If it emits white smoke and produces a plastic smell, it will recognize the fake plastic synthesis. Besides, it will be fake amber when pulling out the needle, but it really won't.
Amber is a prehistoric fossil of turpentine, which was formed 40 million to 60 million years ago. The main components of amber are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and a small amount of sulfur. Hardness 2-3, specific gravity 1.05- 1. 10, melting point 150c- 18c. Amber is a very astringent substance. No two amber pieces are exactly the same. Its composition and structure can be identified by scientific instruments.
Besides, there are other ways to distinguish amber from truth:
1, experiment; Natural amber is very light in texture. If you put it (without any inlay) in water, it will sink to the bottom. But you don't have to worry. When you add dissolved brine to it, when the salt concentration is greater than 1 4 (1 salt, 4 parts water), the real amber will float slowly, but the fake amber will not.
2. Sound; Amber chains or beads without inlay will make a soft and slightly dull sound when rubbed gently in your hands. If the sound of plastic or resin is crisp.
3, fragrance; Amber has almost no smell when rubbed. Amber that produces fragrance when rubbed is called "Xiangpo". Generally, amber only emits a loose fragrance when it burns.
4, eye observation; This is a trick to identify true and false amber; As long as you are familiar with it-you will naturally have this ability. The texture, color depth, transparency and refractive index of true amber will change with the observation angle and illumination. This feeling can't be found in any other substance. Just as we distinguish between true and false people, for example, superb artists can create lifelike wax figures, and "confusing the false with the true" is just talk, and even the best wax figures can't escape our eyes. As long as you have your favorite amber with more than three colors and more than three months, no one can fool you. Amber is transparent but very moist, unlike glass, crystal and diamond. Fake amber is either transparent or opaque, and the color is fake when it dies. Artificial fake amber? Quot "amber flowers" are dazzling, and you will feel lifeless cold light. "Exposure to amber for a long time can tell the truth by intuition. Just like identifying a true person from a false one-no matter how good the wax figure is, I believe you will easily recognize that it is not a real person.
5, ether experiment; Although the appearance of regenerated amber pressed with amber powder at high temperature is very close to that of natural amber, if a little ether is applied, it will feel sticky and dissolved in a few minutes. However, I have checked some of my amber fragments and put them in ether for about 20-30 minutes. They are still safe.
6. pH value; True pure natural amber is quite resistant to ordinary acid and alkali, because many amber produced in the Baltic Sea are salvaged from the sea and have been in the sea for hundreds of millions of years. If they are not acid and alkali resistant, I'm afraid we won't see them for a long time
7. Hardness test; When you gently stab the back of amber with a needle at an angle of 20-30 degrees (where you don't think it will hurt amber), there will be a slight sense of violence and a very fine powder residue. If it is plastic or other substances with different hardness, it will either stick, feel sticky or even stick inside.
However, the above experiments are either not done or done less, so as not to cause harm to amber.