What makes amber jewelry different from other gemstone jewelry?

Amber is fossilized tree resin rather than mineral. Some amber pieces preserve actual ancient insects, plant material, or even water bubbles (enhydros). That gives amber jewelry a mix of geological history and natural art that most gemstone jewelry lacks.

How can I tell if amber jewelry is real and not plastic or glass?

Real amber tends to feel warm to the touch instead of cold like glass or plastic. It can float in salt-water, emit a faint resinous smell when rubbed, and often fluoresce under UV light. Jewelry with perfect-looking insects in flawless clarity for cheap is usually fake.

Are all types of amber equally suitable for jewelry?

No. Common Baltic amber is widely used and affordable. Clear Dominican amber works well especially if you like enhydros or rare colors. Amber from Myanmar (Burmese amber) tends to be denser and often contains fossil inclusions, making it more collectible and valued for display-grade jewelry.

Can amber jewelry include fossil inclusions like insects or plant material?

Yes. Some pieces of amber jewelry are made from amber that trapped insects, plant fragments, or bubbles millions of years ago. These inclusions make each piece unique, blending jewelry, natural history and fossil preservation.

How should I care for amber jewelry to keep it in good condition?

Avoid prolonged exposure to heat, chemicals, chlorine, and strong soaps. Clean amber jewelry gently with lukewarm water and a soft cloth. Store it away from sharp objects and extreme temperature changes to preserve clarity and prevent cracking.

Amber Jewelry Explained

Ryan Zschomler
Nov 22, 2025
4 min read

Updated: Dec 2, 2025

Today we're doing a deep dive on all things amber jewelry. We will explain different kinds of Amber jewelry, what’s the best Amber jewelry to buy, and the benefits of each different kind of Amber jewelry. Some jewelries are much more rare than others. Some have have special pain killing properties. Let’s get into it.

So in front of us we have quite a selection of amber jewelry from different countries.

•Baltic Amber

I want to show you first and foremost is going to be a children's teething necklace. This might be the most popular form of amber jewelry on the planet. It's a small teething necklace made out of Baltic amber chips from the Baltic region, in this case Lithuania, that children wear around their neck during teething, and it helps them with teething because it has painkilling qualities.

Small teething necklace made out of Baltic amber chips from the Baltic region

This is Baltic amber, and this is basically the most popular form of jewelry, and it's very easy to get little chips and make necklaces out of. And then still more Baltic amber jewelry from Lithuania is this one, which is made out of white Baltic amber jewelry, which this is a white Baltic amber bracelet made out of butterscotch Baltic amber, white Baltic amber, stuff like that. And it's on a stretchy string. And so these are really common ones you might find.

Another common one is the Baltic amber chip bracelet, also good for arthritis if you wear it like that. And only Baltic amber has painkilling properties. Not all Baltic amber, not all amber has painkilling properties.

Bracelet made out of butterscotch Baltic amber Baltic amber chip bracelet good for arthritis

•Dominican Republic Amber

Next up on our list is going to be, we're going to leave the Baltic region and we're going to go to the Dominican Republic, which has nice clear amber with insects. And this is a Dominican amber bracelet, a typical style of sphere beads, also very clear and yellow because Dominican amber tends to be quite clear and yellow. And then you can get mixed colors like this. You can also get bigger necklaces like this.

And then a lot of times in the Dominican Republic, you can get Dominican amber and Larimar combined jewelry like this or silver rings with Larimar and amber in them. But this is a very popular type. So if you ever see Larimar with amber, it's almost definitely from the Dominican Republic. And as I said before about the Baltic ones, if you ever find white amber, it's almost definitely from the Baltic region.

Dominican amber bracelet Dominican amber and Larimar combined bracelet

•Myanmar and Burmese Amber

So next up, we're going to go over to Myanmar or Burma, same country, two names, Myanmar and Burmese amber, which is amber that's 100 million years old from the time of the dinosaurs. And Myanmar is very well known for very good insects and amber. This is a silver pendant with insects trapped inside of it. And Myanmar is very good to get this kind of jewelry from, including also silver rings. This is a silver ring from Burma, from Burmese amber with a moth inside of it. Let me get a better shot here. That is a silver ring with a moth inside of it. And this is all 925 sterling silver.

Here's a very, very good one from Burma, a museum grade scorpion tail in amber, also put into a silver pendant. This one is quite amazing. This is Burmese amber, Burmese amber pendant in 925 silver with a scorpion's tail in it. That's Burmese amber.

Silver pendant 925 Burmese amber with a moth Silver pendant with a scorpion's tail

•Mexican Amber

We have stuff like this,

And last but not least, a note about butterscotch Baltic amber like this, this white amber, it patinas into this color. So look, these are two amber pieces of jewelry. The left is an amber bracelet and the right is an amber necklace. But this necklace is at least 10 years old and has begun to patina and change color. It would have started out white like this, like this one, and then change this color over time.

Butterscotch Baltic amber bracelet and necklace — **Baltic white amber that has aged into Butterscotch color through natural patina.**

An example of that patina would be these Baltic amber beads, which are 75 years old. And they have gone up in color where they would have started out at this color. And they would have evolved to this color with their patina. And their final form is this very dark color. This kind of amber, this color of amber is very valuable. It's unfakeable and they know that it is many years old. And so this necklace right here, after a lifetime, will be the color of these beads. And you can see the difference.

That's one of Baltic amber's most popular characteristics. Here you can see the difference between fresh Baltic butterscotch

amber and patina Baltic butterscotch amber.