News about Amber

 

Threat to market in the preparation period before AMBERMART.  There was a meeting of the Gdańsk International Fair Co. (MTG SA) Executive Board with the Consultants’ Council and the representatives of voluntary and economic organisations which work in the Polish amber industry. The aim of the meeting was to identify means to protect the market from amber forgeries.

 

It was acknowledged unanimously that imitations of products and gemstones made of Colombian copal modified by roasting in autoclaves (or sometimes pressed) pose currently the greatest threat. Despite what Dariusz Nowak states in his article on “Amber - varieties, classifications and occurrences” in the latest number (7/8, 2006) of “Zegarki i Biżuteria” [Watches and Jewellery], that reputedly, quote: “Forgeries made of copal, although they often imitate Baltic amber perfectly, are easy to tell because as opposed to Baltic amber they are soluble in e.g. acetone,” in fact they are the hardest to identify. In the last two years, a few modification methods for raw copal were invented, by pressure roasting in inert gas atmosphere or by pressing, which increase its resistance to solvents to almost that of Baltic amber.

 

Through repeated roasting, with ready-to-use technology provided by copal importers together with material batches sold, one can obtain full clarity (e.g. to make stones for intaglio gems) or milky, opaque material, or even the fashionable greenish tint - depending on what’s required. The low price of Colombian copal, which is a contemporary resin, on average 250 and sometimes less than 100 years old and gathered on the surface of the ground, encourages making purchases. In Colombia the price of 20-gram lumps ranges from a few to a dozen or so dollars per kilo. The Americans have preferential conditions in the access to this material (on-site selection, low transport cost, previous experience in treatment methods).

 

Import to Poland by air exceeds the purchase price. We can only lose in this field. It is in our interest to make a clear choice: either amber or copal. Introducing copal onto a common exhibition forum with amber, a mineral which is more than 40 million years old and has a few thousand years of artistic tradition in culture, would belittle both the noble material and the cultural traditions. Copal is not allowed at the specialist amber fair at MTG SA. Trade visitors can get expert assistance in identifying gemstones in the jewellery they purchase, if necessary also by a quick IR Spectroscopy analysis. The Experts’ Committee will inspect exhibition stands in this regard; any attempts to smuggle forgeries to AMBERMART will result in the immediate closing down of the stand.

 

Wiesław Gierłowski