Amber  is a fossil resin, named as "gold of Baltic"  for its color. It is amazing that the color of each piece of amber is like if lighted by sun from inside.

Million years ago large stands of forests in some parts of the world began to seep globs of sticky resin! This aromatic resin oozed down the sides of trees, as well as filling internal fissures, trapping debris, such as seeds, leaves, feathers and insects. As geologic time progressed the forests were buried and the resin hardened into a soft, warm, golden gem, known as amber. Amber is the fossilized resin of ancient trees which forms through a natural polymerization of the original organic compounds. Most of the world's amber is in the range of 30-90 million years old. 

Heating amber will soften it and eventually it will burn, a fact that has given rise to the name of bernstein, by which the Germans know amber. Rubbing amber with a cloth will make it electric, attracting bits of paper. The Greek name for amber is elektron, or the origin of our word electricity. Amber is a poor conductor of heat and feels warm to the touch (minerals feel cool).

Amber deposits usually reside not very deep in the ground and that's why most of them are obtained from strip mines. There are also amber deposits in the sea. You could find small pieces of amber on sandy beaches of southern coast of Baltic Sea, especially after storms.

We found amber transparency and its color the most interesting feature of jewelry made of this gemstone. Unlike diamonds, which are, by their crystal nature, close to 100% regular and let the light in in a very regular way, amber in jewelry make the light passing in a very irregular, one-in-kind way - because of differences in the resin properties, impurities that got into the resin before it turned into amber and different conditions the gemstone was created in. Note that raw amber is not usually that much transparent until gets polished and shaped into jewelry. Setting in sterling silver provides a nice, shiny contrast to the gemstone, what makes the amber jewelry looking more attractive.