Caring for amber

Special care should be given to amber because of its low hardness (between 1 and 3 on the Mohs scale) and because it is sensitive to household chemicals like hair spray and perfume (which may cause a whitish encrustation).

Storing amber properly - do not let it rub against other gems and metals - and cleaning it occasionally with clean, lukewarm water and a flannel cloth, will help to maintain its beautiful luster.

Amber can be dried and rubbed with clear olive oil, then rubbed with a soft cloth to remove excess oil and restore the polish.

Unfortunately, amber is not forever. Roman beads, 2000 years old, have developed a new thick crust. The Baltic amber jewelry from the last centuries has the fine net of new crust on the surface. It is possible to polish it, but it is very difficult with the faceted kind of jewelry that was common at that time.

In Museum für Naturkunde in Stuttgart, Germany, their valuable collections of inclusions are preserved in plastic-coating to keep them from the devastating oxygen. Only the amber deep down in geological deposits has "survived" since it oozed from the trees. So, what is found today is only very little of all the resin the trees have produced during millions of years.