Baltic Amber is not the only ancient resin that can be found today. Learn more about different types of fossil resin.

Baltic Amber (succinite) is fossil resin, dated back to 40 million years ago. According to research conducted in the XIX century, it was produced by the tree Pinus succinifera. It is not the only resin which preserved until today.

 What makes it special? The most important features which make this resin special are its age, amount of succinate acid in the resin (around 3-5%) and high aesthetical values. Its sources can be found all over the world. According to available data more than 100 different kinds of resin were discovered, which are more or less similar to the natural state of Baltic amber.

The oldest fossil resin, next to the Baltic amber, is Triassic resins (it is 200-220 million years old). It can be found in the Alps in Austria and Switzerland and in Germany. Next, according to its age, is Cretaceous amber, which is 70-120 million years old and can be found on every continent. The most popular is the Lebanese Amber. It is well known for its animal inclusions. It can be found in original sources with the remains of burnt trees. Canadian amber can be found in Canada, around Cedar Lake. It is well known for its numerous inclusions, which are the best source of data about the history of that region and its environment. Another stone type of resin that is worth mentioning, is the Tajmyr amber from Syberia, which can be found in tiny, fragile beads and pieces. It sometimes contains little inclusions of plants. In Russia, from sources located in Sambia, up to 97% of the whole raw material is Baltic amber and only 3% of the raw material is represented by the other fossil resin. It is similar to sources located in Ukraine and in Germany. In natural sources of Baltic Amber, glessite can be found, occurring in varieties of goitszyt and zygburgite.

Different types of amber that can be found outside of the sources of Baltic Amber are: ruminate and simetite. Rumenite can be found in Romana and is known for its redish-brown shades. Its sources are located on the island of Sakhalin and the Sea of Okhotsk coast. Older pieces of this resin were also found in regions of the Persian Gulf. Simetite is a type of amber that can be found in Sicilia (it is dated back to Miocene). It was created in Miocene and is 25 million years old. Together with Rumenite and Baltic Amber, it is a precious stone used in jewelry. However, its sources ran dry, so only its imitations are available on the market.

Amber stones can also be found in different areas of the world. One of the most famous types is Mexican Amber, which is 25-35 million years old, it is also known as Chiapas Amber. It was used in various types of ornaments and amulets by native people. It was used during religious events and to create special amulets which were supposed to bring luck, prosperity and successful hunting. Another type of precious fossil resin is the Dominican Amber from Haiti. It is dated back to Miocene as well. However, some sources are even older, dated back to Eocene, similar to Baltic amber. The sources are located in high parts of the mountains and the overall value is similar to the value of Baltic amber.

Amber is a very interesting and precious stone, with many varieties, for ages used to create precious objects. Nowadays amber is mostly used in jewelry production. We would like to invite every amber lover to check our breathtaking collection of silver amber jewelry.