How to distinguish amber from Bakelite?

If there is a demand, then it must be satisfied. For modern business this is the law. Do you want an amber necklace made from a beautiful yellow stone? Please! If you can’t afford a necklace, we can find a cheaper jewelry option for you – just buy it!
The realities of the amber market are such that anyone who wants to purchase jewelry made from precious petrified resin can afford it – regardless of their level of material income. However, when you are at a sales counter, you should remember: the cheaper the amber and jewelry made from it, the greater the likelihood of buying a fake. Especially if trade takes place somewhere in an underground passage.
Alas! The market is full of fake gems! Some artificial resins very closely imitate the color and texture of natural amber. When purchasing fossil stone jewelry, an uninformed buyer often runs the risk of being, if not deceived, then misled.
Some people mistakenly believe that the chance of buying amber fakes in an antique shop is zero. This idea is wrong! Counterfeits have existed before. Artificial amber was made from bakelite, casein, polyester and epoxy resins mixed in different proportions. Other materials that have nothing to do with amber are also used.
What to do in such a situation? How to distinguish true amber from fake?
Knowing some techniques and tricks, you can easily determine the authenticity of amber. The main assistant in this matter is the “culprit of the investigation” itself – amber with its unique and inimitable physical and chemical properties.
Here are a few methods that will help you distinguish a true gem from an imitation. Each of these methods is based on the specific properties of amber.
Appearance
Often fakes have clearly visible multiple inclusions of air bubbles, easily visible to the naked eye.
Densely packed so-called “spangles” in the thickness of the stone (different from round bubbles) can indicate both a fake (burnite material) and natural calcined amber.
Uniform – without color transitions and without any textures – the coloring of amber beads should alert the buyer. Craftsmen, however, make fakes with a characteristic amber texture! Bakelite beads, for example, have a clearly directional layered pattern, most often oriented along the thread hole.
Natural amber, especially one that has not been refined by heat treatment, looks richer than fake amber. Natural stone has an interesting color with chaotic transitions of shades one into another. Its array is always endowed with a unique pattern characteristic of amber of natural origin.
The weight
Amber is a gem of organic origin. Its density is low. Large beads made of natural amber (with a total weight of 70 – 80 grams) look very impressive. Counterfeits made of plastic and glass, having a high density, are modest in size – but weigh a lot.
Amber is warm to the touch, as it has low thermal conductivity – unlike glass, which has much higher thermal conductivity.
Amber hardness test
The density of amber on the Mohs scale is 2.0 – 2.5. This means that it cannot be scratched with a fingernail. But copal, an amber-like resin from legumes, on the contrary, is easily damaged by the same nail. Its hardness is only 1.5 Mohs units. Glass is noticeably harder than amber: this difference can be felt even with your fingers.
Scratch test
Use the edge of a knife or razor to make a scratch in an inconspicuous place. Real amber will crumble into small fragments that can be ground into powder. The plastic will leave elastic shavings. The glass will not be scratched.
Swimming amber in salt water, or so-called “water procedures”
Natural amber in most cases floats in salt water and sinks in fresh water. The density of amber, according to sources, is 1,05 – 1,09, maximum 1,3 g/cm³. The maximum density of saline water solution is 1,1972. Purely theoretically, it turns out that some amber samples may still turn out to be denser than a saline solution. In this case they will drown. If there is a suspicion that the test sample is still natural, it is worth checking it in other ways.
Attention! The test with amber floating in salt water is not possible if the amber is set in metal or decorated with heavy decorative elements made of other materials.
How to prepare the solution? Dissolve 8-10 teaspoons of table salt in a glass of water. If you need more water, make a supersaturated solution (with undissolved salt crystals at the bottom of the vessel).
Natural amber should float in salt water. Counterfeits will drown in such a solution.
This test will identify glass, bakelite, celluloid, epoxy and burnite imitations. But it will not help you identify copal and pressed amber.
After the experiment, the amber must be washed with fresh water and dried.
Electrostatic charging
If natural amber is intensively rubbed against wool or silk, it becomes negatively charged. This property can be tested by applying electrified amber to small pieces of paper. They should rush to the surface of the amber or stick.
Some types of plastics have a similar property. But in amber it is more clearly expressed. The electrostatic method makes it possible to identify counterfeits that completely lack electrification properties. Copal (it is sold under the guise of “young” or “immature” amber) does not become electrified when rubbed.
Odor when rubbing and burning
Vigorous rubbing of amber on a cloth or palm until the temperature of the stone rises significantly helps to perceive a faint resinous aroma, reminiscent of the smell of pine or turpentine. If you do the same with copal, it will soften and its surface will become sticky. Any synthetics will give off a strong chemical smell.
If you apply the hot tip of a needle to the surface of amber, white smoke with a characteristic rosin smell will appear. The rosin aroma is strong enough to tell you whether you are holding plastic or real amber. However, different amber has differences in shades of smell. All varieties of amber are united by a pleasant, slightly sour, resinous aroma. In such an experiment, synthetics will melt faster, giving off a chemical, unpleasant smell.
Is it possible to set fire to amber? This is what you should see if the stone is natural.
Amber begins to ignite approximately three seconds after contact with fire. If you keep it on the fire for a second or two longer, and then take it away from the flame, it will continue to burn on its own, quite intensely. Amber boils in the combustion center. Amber smoke is black – that is, when burned, amber smokes. Once you extinguish the burning amber, the remaining smoke emitted by the heated fragment will amaze you with the purity of its whiteness.
Solvent test
Amber is relatively resistant to alcohol and solvents – while almost all plastics are destroyed when in contact with acetone. Acetone or nail polish remover can damage plastic imitations, changing their color or creating a rough, matte surface where they contact.
By placing a drop of ether, solvent or 95% ethyl alcohol on the surface of amber, you will not see any reactions. Real amber will not disintegrate and will not become sticky.
Otherwise, pressed amber will behave. If you rub pressed amber with a cloth soaked in ether, the surface of the stone will become sticky. Some plastics do not react with alcohol, but dissolve in acetone. Glass counterfeits do not react with any of these reagents. But the dig will be hopelessly damaged by any reagent!
On a note! Do not get carried away with chemical experiments with the front side of amber jewelry. With prolonged exposure to reagents, stains may remain on natural amber. Usually 3-5 seconds are enough to recognize a fake.
Light, luminescence
In the light of an ultraviolet lamp, amber luminesces to one degree or another. In transparent samples, a bluish glow of varying intensity is visible. As the transparency of the stone decreases, the glow effect weakens. Smoky translucent ambers glow pale blue.
Under the influence of ultraviolet light, the structure of wavy amber deposits, banding, and transitions caused by different degrees of turbidity are clearly visible. “Cloud” and “bone” amber glow milky white with a faint bluish tint. Untreated amber with a so-called sugar crust luminesces in brown tones. Synthetic resin based on bakelite is inert in ultraviolet rays, casein imitations glow yellow.
Finally.
When purchasing amber jewelry in a store, you will not always have the opportunity to perform the above-mentioned manipulations. The seller simply will not allow you to damage the jewelry with a hot needle or sharp metal edge.
However, nothing will stop you from examining the amber jewelry in detail! If the seller has a counterfeit bill detector, ask him to check the amber for luminescence. A respectable merchant should not refuse you.
Common sense and a little theory will help you understand the situation. The chance of buying a fake will be reduced to a minimum.
Read about all kinds of fakes and imitations of natural amber in the detailed illustrated article “Varieties of Amber Imitations.” 0.0 (0 votes) Report to moderator ♥ 6 LiveJournal Tumblr Blogger Comment 0 Likes 6 Russia, Perm region, Berezniki Follow the master’s work subscribe to news Blogs on the topic Comments Comment Follow comments (1) Comment Follow comments (1) Keywords

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At any time, amber, which is a valuable resin from ancient coniferous trees, has been tried to be counterfeited in different ways: sometimes just out of interest. But more often people were driven by the desire to compete with nature in the mastery of beauty and unusualness. Ultimately, this resulted in mass fakes of amber, which are sold everywhere and very successfully – often due to reduced prices for products made from completely different materials. Of these, we will consider the most popular, the origin of which can be either natural or artificial.

dug

By its nature, it is in many ways reminiscent of amber, because it is a hardened tree resin, but the resin of amber comes from conifers, and not from leguminous plants. In addition, amber has existed for millions of years, and copal hardly exceeds the “age” of only 1000.

Externally, copal can be impossible to distinguish from amber, especially from some of its varieties. Autoclaving using various chemicals increases the density and hardness of the legume resin. One of the most common ways to attract buyers is the “art” of introducing some insect into a liquid resinous drop, and then saying that this is the work of nature itself.

Cowrie resin

It is distinguished by trees with the same name, which are a type of conifer. They secrete resin abundantly if the root system is severely damaged. Sometimes the resin weight can be half a ton or even more. However, its chemical composition resembles amber only approximately. The same applies to the physical characteristics of cowrie resin. These trees are also copal trees. Their resin is used in the production of high-quality varnishes, and only some “manufacturers” are engaged in counterfeiting it as amber.

In Auckland, New Zealand, there is a museum in which a huge room is dedicated to kauri trees. As ordinary people say, the resin of this tree is completely impossible to distinguish from amber in appearance.

Bernit

Bernite may contain a small percentage of amber substance – about 5%. Large jewelry companies have long abandoned the imitation of amber using it. The artificial bernite stone itself is often painted in different colors and sold as an independent product, which is in good demand. However, those polyester compounds that are present in bernite can “pass” well as transparent honey amber. Defects are still artificially created in bernite, making it difficult to distinguish it from amber with the naked eye.

Initially, the production of bernites looked like this: amber powder was mixed (sintered) with polyester resin. Under conditions of the process occurring in an oxygen environment, the color of the stone turned out to be yellowish with a red tint, and if it was heated in a nitrogen environment, it turned green. Today, the range of bernite products is very wide, with virtually the entire color range available. It may also happen that prices for amber will rise significantly, which means that the number of fakes made of burnite will also increase.

Polyburn

This is an artificial stone that was created in Soviet times in the GDR from amber chips held together with epoxy (polyester) resin. It was she who gave the small pieces of amber bright colors, which were approved by the leadership of the German Communist Party. In a short time, polyburn production became widespread. The name of the stone itself comes from the names of its two components: “bern” was taken from “bernstein” (amber), and “poly” are the first letters denoting the name of the resin that held the amber pieces together.

During the era of intensive production of Polyburn, many decorations with inserts from this material were produced, as well as interesting interior items. But very soon polyburne went out of fashion, because its quality directly depended on what fragments of amber went into production. Therefore, it has become impossible to produce products with a stable guarantee of the same quality.

Despite this, the technology has not completely sunk into oblivion: even now in the Eastern part of Germany and in some Western European countries there are laboratories and enterprises producing small batches of polyburn.

Bakelite

This artificial stone was invented by the American chemist Leo Backland: he treated phenol with formaldehyde, and the world’s first synthetic plastic was obtained. Backland himself did this experiment simply out of curiosity and not at all so that the material he created would be used to make amber fakes. However, fate decreed otherwise.

Initially, bakelite plastic became widespread in the manufacture of spare parts for various devices, as well as their housings – in the field of mechanical engineering and electrical engineering. Bakelite was successfully used to produce brake pads, adhesives and construction varnish.

In Germany, bakelite, along with polyburnum, found its use in the manufacture of jewelry “like amber.” The invention of Bakelite happened just at the time when the First World War ended. People did not have the financial ability to buy expensive jewelry made from natural stones. That is why the synthesis of “analogs” from plastic has become so widespread.

Phenol-formaldehyde resin itself has no color, but if you introduce some impurities into it and apply simple processing technologies to it, it acquires a beautiful, amber-yellow color. Thus, the markets of all European countries were soon filled with bakelite products “under amber”. By the way, the well-known company Parker has adopted this technology. Now the company actively uses bakelite in the manufacture of its famous pens.

Faturan

This material was invented a long time ago and deserves some respect. It was created in the 17th century, when Eastern craftsmen processed amber dust and shavings, mixed them with resins of various origins, and then heated and pressed them. This is how faturan turned out. Products made from faturan are distinguished by their amazing beauty: their color is honey-red with a wonderful matte tint. Unfortunately, the production technology was lost, and it is no longer possible to restore the original methods of producing faturan.

But when Bakelite became a powerful commercial success in Europe, a certain Dr. Thrawn from Hamburg modified it in ingenious ways, giving it a resemblance to faturan. Thrawn simply tinted the stone, and the fraudulent plan was a success. Thrawn’s company was actively engaged in the manufacture of faturan counterfeits until the early forties of the last century and supplied them to the East. Modern “craftsmen” are still engaged in this fraud, counterfeiting both amber and faturan by mixing who knows what synthetic materials.

Celluloid

It was invented in America in the second half of the 19th century. Celluloid was patented by John Wesley Hite. Initially, its goal was to imitate natural ivory, but later, from nitrate cellulose, camphor and colloidal paints, it was possible to obtain a product that could be successfully passed off as amber.

Celluloid, made to look like amber, was used as decorative finishes on tableware. It is produced in the form of plates, the texture of which is very similar to amber. But it gives itself away as too bright, “screaming” colors, which indicate its artificial origin.

An interesting fact is that celluloid is now produced in very limited quantities due to the flammability and unsafety of this material. It is not so easy to see celluloid fakes of amber in retail sale.

casein

At its core, it is one of the milk proteins. At the beginning of the twentieth century, they tried to process casein with formaldehyde, which resulted in a resin that was actively used in industrial production. In the USSR, this material began to be called galalite, having been received from the Germans as a ready-made product.

In the production of casein (galalith), technologies were used that allowed for a variety of products. A certain amount of hydroxyl group substances was integrated into the molecules of the artificial material. The result was a yellowish stone, as well as a red-brown one, which did not transmit light at all. Additives from coloring substances helped in creating a material similar to various natural stones, not just amber. Galalite was counterfeited to resemble mother-of-pearl and ivory. They even made piano keys from it.

If you look closely at galalite, it is much heavier than natural amber. Its thermal conductivity is much greater, and galalite is cooler to the touch than amber. In the USSR, galalite was discontinued more than half a century ago. At the moment, its manufacturing technologies are used in small private workshops.

Acrylic

Polymethylacrylate, or simply acrylic, has been widely known for a long time. At its core, it is nothing more than glass (plexiglass). During World War II, plexiglass was used to make glass parts of airplane cabins. Acrylic bathtubs are now common, and if this plastic is tinted with a honey color, the result is a not entirely successful fake, which can only be mistaken for real amber in a photograph or from afar. Acrylic has a loud, provocative color, and the shape of its beads is suspiciously ideal, which is uncharacteristic for a product of natural origin.

However, inexperienced people are easily deceived. Acrylic looks especially beautiful in photographs and videos, attracting many glances from those who are not so well versed in the quality of jewelry. At the first consultation with a professional jeweler, a fake can be recognized instantly.

Novolak and Resolan

These are varieties of bakelite, named differently due to the fact that European manufacturers did not want to purchase a patent for its production for money and skillfully got out of the situation by coming up with their own names. Besides, customers always like innovations – so why not please them?

Resolan and novolak came into European use at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. With the help of Resolan, it was possible to imitate amber quite well, and Novolak was used both for the manufacture of ordinary “amber” beads and as a coating for plexiglass products in order to pass them off as valuable jewelry.

Polyester products

This substance is of artificial origin and has an amazing chemical affinity with natural amber.

Both copies are very similar to each other in terms of structure, but fakes made of polyester are not widespread. The reason is that the type of polyester used on the market is suitable only for creating fibrous fabric. Transforming this synthetic material into fake amber requires the use of special chemicals and a reaction under high pressure.

It is very easy to recognize a fake in this case, because when rubbed and heated, a polyester product has a pronounced plastic smell. In addition, such products, like many other fakes of synthetic origin, look cheap and very catchy.

Pressed amber-ambroid

The technology of boiling amber in honey was invented by the ancient Romans. By this they achieved a thicker color from it, and also conducted experiments by pressing fragments of stone softened by heating. In the Middle Ages, Arab craftsmen achieved the same success, and in modern times, inexpensive jewelry made from pressed amber became widespread among consumers. In Austria, at the end of the 19th century, for the first time, trial attempts were made to make amber from its waste materials, and this was also crowned with success.

Sawdust, amber chips and small pieces are heated, pressed and, if the level of the master is high, a substance is obtained that is almost impossible to distinguish from natural amber. Ambroid can become light or dark, depending on the processing technologies applied to it. As you know, large-scale work on amber extraction was carried out in the USSR, and the technologies were worked out to the smallest detail. The products received a GOST certificate, and the products were sold inexpensively, while having an excellent level of quality.

The quality of jewelry made from amber waste in Soviet times turned out to be so high that now ambroid made in the USSR is officially not a fake. It is given the “title” of a lower grade gemstone because ambroid consists of 100% natural resin that has changed its shape by human will.

Now there are a large number of manufacturing companies that continue the tradition of these technologies. Even specialists sometimes find it difficult to distinguish between good quality ambroids and natural amber, and only the air bubbles inside the products (the result of pressing) reveal the hand-made nature of these jewelry.

Inclusions

Inclusions are the remains of once living organisms, “sealed” by nature in a petrified drop of amber resin. Sometimes there are whole insects that can be clearly seen inside the jewelry. Fraudsters skillfully take advantage of the fact that buyers like the exotic look of inclusions. They place flies, bugs and other insects in gradually hardening synthetic materials.

It is very easy to distinguish fake inclusions from natural ones: insects that were captured by resin many millions of years ago have long since lost their flesh and acquired a translucent color. All that remains from them is a chitinous cover, or an imprint of the exact shape of a particular creature.

As for fake inclusions, they represent insects as if they had just gotten inside the product. By the way, it is synthetic polymer fakes of amber that sometimes serve as an excellent preservative for blowflies, and if it was placed inside synthetics 200 or 300 years ago, centuries later it will look as green as before.

Of course, counterfeits can be of very high quality, and buyers are still falling for them, while deceivers and scammers continue to expand their arsenal of means to engage in criminal deception. Various types of resins of other origins and synthetic materials, unfortunately, are increasingly being passed off as amber, and sometimes only very experienced specialists can recognize their true “nature”.

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