Baltic amber color and opacity

Baltic amber comes in a variety of forms depending on the degree of its translucency and colour.

Colour ranges from the well known yellow form to white, blue, green, beige and brown.

Translucency is determined by the number, distribution and size of inclusions - chiefly air bubbles but also bark, earth and other organic and mineral pieces contained within.

Clear yellow amber if often prized for jewellery, opaque coloured pieces prized as natural or polished ornaments and pieces containing flora or fauna most sought after for polishing as windows on prehistory.

Much raw amber is collected for its natural unadorned beauty and unusual presentations, such as this drop shaped piece are prized for their direct link to their moment of creation.

There are as many types of amber as there are of people.

The degree of transparency can be predicted by reference to the size and distribution of air bubbles in the piece.

Transparent amber – contains no or few large bubbles measuring 0.5 – 2.0 mm in diameter.

Translucent amber – containing concentrations of air bubbles producing a clouded appearance.

Opaque yellow amber – upto 25,000/mm2, its colour ranging across all shades of yellow and beige.

Opaque white amber – up to 900,000 air bubbles per mm2, with an internal structure which has the appearance of solid foam. The colour of this variety ranges from white to blue.

The internal structure and colour is affected by exposure to air, humidity and light levels which may cause yellow, red, orange colouration.

Changes in its internal structure lead to the appearance of faults within a piece producing a sugar crystal structure.

Weathered amber is also covered by a crust or skin making its surface coarse and uneven. The greatest degree of weathering is displayed by amber which has lain in deposits above the surface of the water-table for a prolonged period of time.

Similarly, pieces of amber which make up part of an old collection, or those which have been exposed to the effects of light, as is often the case with display items, change colour from yellow to red and orange, or from white to yellowish.

The degree of transparency varies in amber from clear to cloudy. Clear amber is transparent and usually ranges from pale yellow (honey)to dark reddish yellow (cognac).

Some opaque varieties include contain such a large amount of air bubbles that seen under a microscope they have the appearance of solid foam.

Cloudy amber (semi-transparent to opaque) may be a variety of colors and separated into classes such as fatty, bone (osseous) or foamy (frothy).

Fatty amber has tiny bubbles, suspended dust particles, and is usually a translucent yellowish color resembling goose fat also sometimes compared with the look of whipped honey.

Bone or osseous amber is whitish yellow or brown in color, opaque and looks similar to ivory or bone. Black decayed organic debris is commonly found in this type of amber.

Foamy or frothy amber is very soft and therefore incapable of taking a polish. It is opaque and usually contains pyrite infilling cracks.