Baltic Amber

Baltic amber is found in areas surrounding the Baltic Sea, areas south of Finland and east or north of Gdansk (Danzig), Poland. That includes East Prussia, Samland, parts of Kšnigsberg (now Kalingrad, a part of Russia), and even as far as northern Denmark. Today the main sources of amber are from the Baltic states and the Dominican Republic. While Dominican amber is sought after for it’s likelihood of inclusions due to it’s tropical environment, Baltic Amber is regarded as higher quality, particularly for jewelry. Compared to all other amber varieties, Baltic amber is tougher and longer lasting. Additionally, amber containing succinic acid is considered to be the only true amber. There have been close to 100 variations of fossil resins identified to date, and none compare to Baltic amber as they either do not contain any succinic acid or they contain less than three percent.

During the Eocene Epoch, the Baltic area, lands south of Finland and east or north of Gdansk (Danzig), Poland, resembled today’s northern Florida, a subtropical forest of plam and pine trees. The hypothesis is that during the tertiary time period a great river washed out the tree resin in this area and deposited it in the delta between Chlapowo and the Sambian Peninsula. Over millions of years, this deposit of resin has been buried by several layers of earth. Today Baltic amber is mined from this strata determined to be 25 to 40 million years old, called "blue earth."

Though amber is primarily found deep in the Earth’s crust, it has been a highly regarded treasure for thousand’s of years, long before mining technology was introduced. As far back as 4,500 years, archeaologists say there is evidence that amber was being bought and sold in marketplaces all over what is now Eastern Europe. The Baltic Sea eventually covered the blue earth strata, and as the ocean churned and eroded the earth’s surface, amber occasionally washed ashore and was even visible in shallow ocean areas. And so before mining for amber ever developed, fishing for amber was the traditional practice.

Because of amber’s considerable value, it has had a long history of ownership controversy. For almost all of the 20th century, the amber industry was government controlled. But in the late 1980’s with the liberalization of the economies of eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, Poland led the way for amber’s rebirth. In seven years the number of amber workshops multiplied exponentially from 500 to 6,000. The explosion was similar to that of the Mexican silver renaissance out of Taxco. Artisans were trained and new designs were appearing throughout the world. Ironically, the banishment of silver control in Poland helped to further the industry even more. Today, you’ll find many Polish artisans sculpting and forming wonderully artistic, superbly crafted pieces of amber and silver jewelry.