Amber: properties, varieties and value factors

Key properties

Chemical formula	Organic resin, approx C10H16O; Baltic succinite additionally contains 3-8% succinic acid
Crystal system	Amorphous (none — organic)
Mohs hardness	2-2.5
Toughness	Poor (brittles and crazes with age)
Refractive index	1.540
Optic character	Isotropic (SR); strong anomalous double refraction (ADR) and strain colours are common
Specific gravity	1.04-1.10
Cleavage	None
Fracture	Conchoidal
Habit	Nodular drops, flows and stalactite-like masses; no crystal form
Lustre	Resinous; polish: Resinous to vitreous
UV fluorescence	Bluish white to yellowish green or orangy yellow under LW, weaker under SW; Dominican blue amber glows vivid blue even in daylight
Pleochroism	None
Cause of colour	Golden-orange body colour from aged organic compounds in the resin; green and especially blue stones owe their colour to strong fluorescence rather than body colour
Typical inclusions	Insects, spiders, lizards, flowers, leaves, air bubbles, flow lines, 'sun spangle' disc fractures; rare water droplets
Stability	Burns at low temperatures with a pine-resin odour; darkens slowly with age and light; attacked by acids, alcohol and solvents; surface crazes in dry heat
Heat sensitivity	High — softens well below flame temperature and ignites easily; never steam or ultrasonic
Care and cleaning	Warm (never hot) soapy water, soft cloth, pat dry; no ultrasonic, no steam; keep away from perfume, alcohol, solvents and household chemicals; store away from heat
Birthstones	None official; appears on some alternate November lists
Availability	Widely available in jewellery grades; scarce and pricey in natural red, green and blue; inclusion pieces priced individually
Recognition	Feels warm and very light (SG ~1.08 — floats in saturated salt water), RI 1.54 with common ADR, resinous lustre, burns with pine odour; acetone does not attack it (unlike copal)

Varieties

Amber

Colour	yellow and honey to orange, red-brown, rarely green or blue
Transparency	variable
Clarity type	No formal type — graded transparent to opaque; bubbles, flow lines and inclusions are part of the character
Phenomena	Sun spangles (iridescent disc fractures from heat treatment); blue amber's daylight fluorescence
Appearance	Warm glowing yellow to cognac brown, honey-transparent to cloudy; bubbles and swirl flow lines; insects and plant debris in fine specimens; takes a soft resinous polish
Trade names	Baltic amber (succinite) • Dominican amber • burmite (Burmese) • Sicilian simetite • Romanian rumanite • Canadian chemawinite/cedarite • clear, fatty, cloudy, foamy and bone amber texture grades • sea amber vs pit amber
Misnomers	Young amber (copal) • reconstructed amber sold as natural (pressed ambroid) • 'Baltic amber' applied to pressed or reconstituted goods
Typical sizes	Beads 4-30 mm; cabochons from a carat to exceptional multi-hundred-carat lumps; Baltic pieces over 1 kg exist but are rare
Cutting styles	Beads • cabochons • carvings • free-form polished lumps • occasionally faceted; often left as natural drops
Key separations	vs copal: acetone drop — copal goes sticky within seconds, true amber unaffected; copal often whiter SW fluorescence • vs plastic: hot point (amber = pine resin smell, plastic = acrid), SG and RI, plastics often moulded with perfect identical beads • vs citrine: quartz hard (7), SG 2.65, DR; amber soft, floats in salt water • vs glass: heft, hardness, hot point • vs pressed amber: magnification shows elongated 'bread-crumb' grain boundaries and flow boundaries between fragments
Sources (localities)	Russia (Kaliningrad — the great Baltic mining centre, most of world supply) • Poland (Gdansk coast) • Lithuania and Latvia • Dominican Republic (Santiago — insects, blue amber) • Mexico (Chiapas) • Myanmar (Hukawng Valley, Kachin — burmite) • Italy (Sicily, simetite) • Romania (rumanite) • Canada (Cedar Lake, Manitoba — chemawinite) • Ukraine
Availability	Abundant in yellow-orange jewellery grades; natural cherry red, green and blue scarce; fine insect inclusions priced per specimen
Market notes	Heavy treatment disclosure culture: pressed, clarified, spangled and dyed material must be labelled; 'Baltic amber' certificates from silver shops should be treated critically; blue amber from the Dominican Republic trades at many multiples of common yellow
Care notes	Remove before swimming, bathing and housework; wipe with a soft dry or barely damp cloth; never store in direct sun or near heat; no ultrasonic or steam ever
In short	Amber spans honey yellow to rare fluorescent blue, with Baltic material ruling the volume market and Dominican insects capturing collectors. Soft, light and easily faked, it is the classic teaching stone for hot-point, SG and solvent tests — and for honest treatment disclosure.

Size (ct)	USD per carat	Tier	As of
1.00–20.00	$0.20 – $3.00	commercial beads and cabs (Baltic, commonly treated)	2026-10-26
1.00–30.00	$3.00 – $25.00	fine natural-colour and good insect inclusions	2026-10-26
1.00–20.00	$20.00 – $150.00	Dominican blue amber	2026-10-26

Retail market survey, per carat unless noted. Ranges describe what commercial to fine stones trade at; exceptional stones and provenance premiums sit above them.

Sources

GIA gem encyclopedia · mindat.org · Wikipedia

Data compiled and fact-checked against gemmological literature, October 2026 (JDMIS gem reference). Properties are ranges accepted in gemmological practice; individual stones vary.

Key properties

Varieties

Amber

Sources

See also