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Identifying amber

Warm, light, and electric.

Real amber is very light, warm to the touch, and floats in strongly salted water (about one part salt to two of water) — most plastics sink. Rubbed on cloth it builds a static charge that lifts small fibres.

Under UV it often fluoresces bluish. Beware plastic and copal (young resin) imitations: a hot needle touched to a hidden spot yields a resinous, piney smell from amber and copal, an acrid plastic smell from imitations — and copal also goes sticky with a drop of alcohol, which true amber resists.

Insect inclusions occur naturally, but a large, perfect, showpiece insect posed dead-centre is a classic feature of fakes; genuine inclusions are usually small, partial, and awkwardly placed.

Test on hidden spots only, and sparingly — every test marks the piece. Record weight, colour, and translucency, and note which tests you actually performed.

From the guide library inside Collectors Catalogues, a free app for cataloguing antiques and finds with honest, museum-grade records.

More on materials

Copper alloy or bronze? — Why cataloguers say “copper alloy”.

Identifying copper alloy — Copper, bronze, and brass — telling them apart.

Identifying silver — Tarnish, hallmarks, and the ring test.

Identifying gold — Why gold looks untouched after centuries.

Identifying iron — Corrosion, lamination, and magnetism.

Identifying lead and pewter — Soft, heavy, and dull gray.

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