Types of Amber
Amber can be classified by number of parameters such as chemical composition, color and way of formation, production method. The following classification is by chemical composition:

Amber can be classified based on chemical composition usually into two fossil resins: succinite and retinite. Succinite is the common variety of European amber. Baltic amber or succinite was once thought to be the only "true" amber and is the most suitable for jewelry. Other fossil resins include gedanite, krantzite, beckerite, stantienite, glessite, schraufite and delatynite. These fossil resins are mostly devoid of inclusions and contain small amounts, if any, succinic acid. Krantzite and gedanite are both rare varieties of Baltic amber, that is they contain some succinic acid, but both have lower hardness and other differing properties from Baltic amber or succinite.

Retinite Amber

This is less tough than Baltic amber and does not contain succinic acid. Important sources of retinite include the Dominican Republic and Mexico. As retinite contains no succinic acid; it is primarily of Tertiary (Oligocene) age. When exposed to UV light, all Dominican amber will fluorescent blue or green shades.

Gedanite, or Brittle Amber

This is found with Baltic amber and it is thought to be resin from an extinct white pine species closely. Though it closely resembles succinite but it is much more brittle, not quite so hard, with a lower melting point and containing no succinic acid. It is often covered with a white powder easily removed by wiping. The name comes from Gedanum, the Latin name of Gdańsk at the Baltic Sea. It was first found near Gdansk, which is now in Poland but was then called Gedania.

Krantzite

This is a soft red amber-like resin, found in the lignites of Saxony.

Beckerite

This is a rare amber in earthy-brown nodules, almost opaque, said to be related in properties to gutta-percha (gutta-percha is a genus of tropical trees native to southeast Asia and northern Australasia, from Taiwan south to Malaya and east to the Solomon Islands. It is also inelastic natural latex produced from the sap of these trees, particularly from the species Palaquium gutta. Chemically, gutta-percha is a polyterpene, a polymer of isoprene (trans-1,4-polyisoprene).). Beckerite is also found with Baltic amber, though nicknamed "brown resin".

Stantienite

This is a brittle, deep brownish-black resin, destitute of succinic acid. Stantienite resembles beckerite in color but due to complete opacity it is termed "black resin". These two types of amber are named for Becker and Stantien, two developers of amber dredging and mining operations in the Samland region in the 1800s.

Glessite

This is a nearly opaque brown dark resin, with numerous microscopic cavities and dusty enclosures, named from glesum, an old name for amber.

Allingite

This is a fossil resin allied to succinite, from Switzerland.

Roumanite or Romanian Amber

This is named after the river Simeto or Giaretta. It occurs in lower Miocene deposits and is also found washed up by the sea near Catania. This beautiful material presents a great diversity of tints, but a rich hyacinth red is common. It is remarkable for its fluorescence, which in the opinion of some authorities adds to its beauty. Amber is also found in many localities in Emilia, especially near the sulphur-mines of Cesena. It has been conjectured that the ancient Etruscan ornaments in amber were wrought in the Italian material, but it seems that amber from the Baltic reached the Etruscans at Hatria. It has even been supposed that amber passed from Sicily to northern Europe in early times - a supposition said to receive some support from the fact that much of the amber dug up in Denmark is red; but it must not be forgotten that reddish amber is found also on the Baltic, though not being fashionable it is used rather for varnish-making than for ornaments. Moreover, yellow amber after long burial is apt to acquire a reddish color. The amber of Sicily seems not to have been recognized in ancient times, for it is not mentioned by local authorities like Diodorus Siculus (a Greek historian 90 BC to 30BC).

Burmite Amber

Other Amber Types

Many other fossil resins more or less allied to amber have been described. Schraufite is a reddish resin from the Carpathian sandstone, and it occurs with jet (lignite) in the Cretaceous rocks of the Lebanon; ambrite is a resin found in many of the coals of New Zealand; retinite occurs in the lignite of Bovey Tracey in Devonshire and elsewhere; whilst copaline has been found in the London Clay of Highgate in North London. Chemawinite or cedarite is an amber-like resin from the Saskatchewan river in Canada.

See Amber Fossil Designs Gallery

Jewelry Education Pages