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Thread: Quick tip: Is amber real

  1. #1
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    Default Quick tip: Is amber real

    Create a high saturated solution of salt in water. Amber will float. Fakes and close relatives (of amber not yours ;-) will sink....
    Em

  2. #2
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    Oooh! Just like testing for witches

  3. #3
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    lol, good tip though some of the fakes are very clever i always used to burn the back of mine to see what type of smell they gave off, not a good idea at all.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by mizgeorge View Post
    Oooh! Just like testing for witches
    Now all I need is a duck.

  5. #5
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    Quaaaaccckkkk
    :ROFL:

  6. #6
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    A handy tip Em, thanks. I'm off to look for my amber now and give it a good dunking...
    Kym

    I'm hoping for world peace but I'd also like something shiny as well...


    www.kymbigwood.com

  7. #7
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    and I'm steering clear of the lot of you
    Di x

  8. #8
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    Also if you rub it, it gets static-y AND smells of pine.

    You can also of course heat up a pin and stick it in somewhere where it won't be seen, if you smell pine... it's real.

    I got ripped off on e-Bay with a ring that was supposedly Amber and it's just glass... extremely hard to spot a fake by looking at it!

    There are lots of clever fakes out there now though as they seem to have gotten wise so I generally give buying anything semi-precious from anyone other than people who really know what they are doing.

    Also did you know that fake Citrine is made by heating up bad quality Amethyst until it goes yellow...

    So many pitfalls... such a shame but it's like everything these days, where there's money there's fraud and fakery!

  9. #9
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    ...............................
    Last edited by ben b; 13-09-2009 at 12:08 AM.

  10. #10
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    Interesting tip, I don't know if the heat or taste tests work on copal...this is a "close cousin" of amber and looks very similar and is natural tree resin, but is nowhere near as old...so should be much cheaper. The float test does work with it (as long as you remove the silver first )
    Em

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