You've been researching amber for nearly 40 years, has the problem of amber imitations become worse over time?
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In my opinion, the biggest problem at the moment is the blurring of the line between modified amber and its imitation. While in the past modification involved thermal and pressure treatment, today various foreign substances are also introduced into the amber substance to achieve the desired effect. Such an effect, for example, is white colour, created by autoclaving amber using water. Previously, modification clarified, i.e., removed the foamy structure from amber, but here we are dealing with the opposite process: the solid structure of amber is changed into a solid foam structure. Is this still modification or already imitation? I sometimes get the impression that this \u201eimprovement\u201d of amber will never end. <\/p>\n
I fear this practice will rather intensify, as there is too little amber and it is too desirable a raw material.<\/b> <\/p>\n
The problem isn't a lack of raw material, but rather the fact that clients dictate to amber craftsmen what they should do. A dozen or so years ago, Americans were impressed by scales in amber. And what did we get from that? A lot of clarified amber and forcing internal cracks to satisfy customers. Now, in turn, a trend from China for natural amber has emerged, preferably light yellow or yellowish-white. So manufacturers are bending over backwards, sparing no expense, to satisfy this demand. As a result, a lot of \u201enatural\u201d amber has appeared on the market, which in fact is largely repeatedly modified or is an imitation made from other materials. Both the former and the latter are usually sold as natural amber, hence the buyers' concern. Diamonds and other precious stones are also imitated, so there's nothing wrong with that, provided the customer is properly informed. Amber imitations made from various sub-fossilised resins, such as Colombian copal, are nobler and more valuable than imitations made from artificial resins, because it is also natural resin, just much younger. <\/p>\n
There is also green amber.<\/b> <\/p>\n
This colour is achieved by kiln firing in an autoclave, or by painting from underneath. In my opinion, it is unacceptable to continue calling such modified or painted stone \"amber\". I loudly protest against such practices, even if I am aware that the voices of scientists are barely heard in the market. Amber is a gemstone primarily in shades of yellow to brown. If we want to change it to green, let's sell it as an imitation green stone \u2013 for example, tourmaline, emerald, jade, or many others \u2013 made from amber. And the situation is serious: if we do not stop this practice, it could lead to a serious undermining of trust in amber, and consequently to a collapse of the market. Already today, the Chinese, who are currently the largest recipients of amber jewellery, are becoming increasingly distrustful. Do manufacturers really want them to turn away from amber?! <\/p>\n
How do scientists cope with identifying amber modifications and imitations?<\/b> <\/p>\n
Unfortunately, we're operating a bit in the dark. Previously, new modification and imitation methods were patented, so we knew who was doing what and with what. Now, we check if something lands in our hands. The difficulty is that currently, everyone is making their own blends, and the spectrum analysed in a spectrometer is in many cases still unidentifiable. Sometimes it's not possible to identify such an imitation using only the method of infrared spectrometric analysis. However, we already know how to distinguish modified amber from natural amber in a spectrometer \u2013 based on the conclusions from my research and Dr Ewy Wagner-Wysieckiej<\/a> The results from the Gda\u0144sk University of Technology were recently published in the Earth Museum Works no. 50, 2012. This is a significant step forward. <\/p>\n So, how can you tell natural amber from modified amber?<\/b> <\/p>\n The best device for determining the authenticity of Baltic amber is, as I mentioned, Spectrometer<\/a>. But it is only a machine, so not every analysis is successful. Sometimes the spectrometer will show very nice bands, and other times ones that even the most experienced expert cannot read. That's why we shouldn't be surprised when the person operating the spectrometer refuses to issue a test certificate because they won't be certain. We are unable to read everything from a single spectrum. After all, we don't know what happened to a given piece of amber over more than 40 million years: it was in water, earth, lying in a sand dune, stuck in a glacier, and who knows where else. We manage to read those spectra that nature allows us to read... and our experience. <\/p>\n A new, but very promising, method is chemical mapping of amber, which involves creating a map from a piece of amber. Many spectra are taken from adjacent locations, making it easier to see where the amber is natural and where there is some other additive. These studies are in their initial phase, and if they develop, we will have a very reliable method for examining mixtures of amber with synthetic resins or copals. Amber \u2013 an organic mineral \u2013 still holds its secrets, and that's a good thing, as it continues to make it an interesting object of research for us. The market \u2013 and not just the jewellery market \u2013 has no chance of developing if it is not based on scientific research.<\/p>\n However, these studies should have a greater impact on the market. What scenario do you foresee for the market's further development? <\/b> <\/b>Development is absolutely possible. I hope a few more spectrometers with ATR attachments will appear, and that among amber craftsmen, sellers, and customers, awareness will grow that science can eliminate counterfeits. And imitations? They will exist, as long as they are not green... Particularly those made from natural sub-fossil resins are a good alternative for people who cannot afford natural amber, which is already expensive today; however, it is important that they know it is an imitation and what it is made of. Beautiful imitations from the 19th century \u2013 even those made from synthetic resins, and therefore less noble ones \u2013 are still welcomed and admired today. Prof. Dr. Hab. Barbara Kosmowska-Ceranowicz talks about the blurring lines between modified amber and imitations, the problems with identification, and how to deal with them.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":16424,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"slim_seo":{"title":"To si\u0119 nigdy nie sko\u0144czy\u2026 - rozmowa z prof. Barbar\u0105 Kosmowsk\u0105-Ceranowicz - Amber Portal","description":"Prof. dr hab. Barbara Kosmowska-Ceranowicz talks about the blurring lines between modified amber and imitations, the challenges of identification, and how"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[118],"tags":[],"sekcja":[245],"class_list":["post-16425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wywiady","sekcja-ludzie-opinie"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amber.com.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amber.com.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amber.com.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amber.com.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amber.com.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/amber.com.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16425\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amber.com.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amber.com.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amber.com.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amber.com.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16425"},{"taxonomy":"sekcja","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amber.com.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sekcja?post=16425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/b>
They certainly do! From the outset, the organisers of the Amberif amber trade fair have focused on business development based on science. A result of this collaboration is also the provision of a spectrometer for amber research at the emerging Amber Museum in Krakow \u2013 it can be used by anyone who has purchased or wishes to purchase and have the authenticity of an amber product examined. I am extremely pleased about the opening of this museum \u2013 there are many similar private ventures in Germany that, alongside their business activities, carry out popularisation work based on authentic collections. <\/p>\n
\n<\/b><\/p>\n
Mrs Ania, to conclude, let's invite to Krakow to Amber Museum<\/a>, which opens Tomasz Miko\u0142ajczyk<\/a> \u2013 Amber Master of the Year 2012<\/a>. This is also an interesting perspective for the market\u2026<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"