Share your favorites on Show & Tell

Salt Water Test for Amber Necklace - It Floats!

In Fine Jewelry > Amber Jewelry > Show & Tell and Asian > Chinese Jewelry > Show & Tell.
getthatmonke…'s loves444 of 1614Black & White Footed Ceramic Bowl (500) by Ettore SottsassArts and crafts black opal triplet long brooch, silver, gold leaves and berries.
13
Love it
1
Like it

ho2cultchaho2cultcha loves this.
courtenayantiquescourtenayantiques loves this.
kyratangokyratango loves this.
QuantumphysicaQuantumphysica likes this.
freiheitfreiheit loves this.
melaniejmelaniej loves this.
TassieDevilTassieDevil loves this.
racer4fourracer4four loves this.
ZillaZilla loves this.
auraaura loves this.
Hel1Hel1 loves this.
KarenokeKarenoke loves this.
EfesgirlEfesgirl loves this.
See 12 more
Add to collection

    Please create an account, or Log in here

    If you don't have an account, create one here.


    Create a Show & TellReport as inappropriate


    Posted 7 years ago

    davyd286
    (38 items)

    In response to a recent conversation about testing amber beads -
    This is an illustration of amber floating in salt water. The amount of salt required varies somewhat in recipes found online, the most popular being one part salt dissolved in two parts water. However, it's important to remember that copal will also float in salt water, so this test is useful mainly for distinguishing natural resin from man-made plastic.

    The next photo illustrates beads glowing whitish and looking opaque under UV light which many plastic and glass beads don't do.

    The discussion linked below would be of interest to people who like to "dig deeper" since it goes into scientific details about the difference between copal and amber:
    http://www.mindat.org/mesg-100-286019.html

    The second article uses much more accessible language but presents us with pretty much the same conclusion - one can't expect to tell the difference between amber and copal without specialized equipment, since copal can get treated and as a result, respond just like amber to most testing done by an average consumer:
    http://www.jtv.com/library/copal-vs-amber.html

    logo
    Amber Jewelry
    See all
    Vintage 14 Yellow Gold Chunky Large Double Curved Men Antique Ring Solid Women
    Vintage 14 Yellow Gold Chunky Large...
    $14
    Silver Vintage Large Heavy Amber Earrings.
    Silver Vintage Large Heavy Amber Ea...
    $6
    Silver Large Natural Amber Vintage Ring, 925
    Silver Large Natural Amber Vintage ...
    $3
    ART NOUVEAU VINTAGE SOLID STERLING SILVER BANDED MOSS AGATE BRACELET 6.85
    ART NOUVEAU VINTAGE SOLID STERLING ...
    $140
    logo
    Vintage 14 Yellow Gold Chunky Large Double Curved Men Antique Ring Solid Women
    Vintage 14 Yellow Gold Chunky Large...
    $14
    See all

    Comments

    1. Karenoke Karenoke, 7 years ago
      I learn so much on this CW site, and that is why I love it.
      Thanks for sharing!
    2. Efesgirl Efesgirl, 7 years ago
      Thank you, davy!
    3. Jewels1900 Jewels1900, 7 years ago
      Thanks for the info.

    Want to post a comment?

    Create an account or login in order to post a comment.