What is Mexican Amber? Age, Origin, and Characteristics.

Two Mexican Amber Heart Figurines - Two sister pieces, cut from the same raw piece and show identical character. Their multi colored layers show the striking beauty of Mexican amber.

     Mexican amber is approximately 28 million years old, dating back to early Miocene era. It is made from the now extinct Hymenaea Protera tree, the same as Dominican amber. This amber is found in Chiapas, Mexico, in the hills near the southern border. Mexican amber is often found alongside lignite, a type of fossilized wood. That is to say that both the amber, and the trees that made it, are in the ground together.

Chiapas Southern Mexican State

Mexican Amber Mines

     Mexican amber is mostly mostly dug in small mines chiseled by hand by the locals who live nearby. Generally, these are family operations. It is common to see the son mining the amber, the father polishing it, and the mother or grandma selling it in the local marketplace.

A Mexican Amber Mine - Looking deep into the mine shaft. Notice the people inside.

Simojovel, Mexico

     Simojovel is the small town at the heart of the Mexican amber world. This is where the majority of amber mines are located, along with the people who mine them and work the amber. The primary language here is the indigenous language “Tzotzil,” and Spanish is the second language after that. The people here are direct descendants of the ancient Mayan people.

Entering Simojovel - The capital of amber in Mexico. If you see this sign, you are probably on the start of a fun amber adventure.

Insects in Mexican Amber

Mexican amber contains insects, but is not famous for its inclusions like other ambers. The insects from here tend to be slightly less clear and preserved, thus making them less desirable to collectors. Museum-grade inclusions can be found here, just less frequently than other deposits. 

Clear Fly in Yellow Amber - Well preserved, but quite small. Flies are the most common bugs preserved in amber

     While Mexican amber is not exalted for its insect inclusions, it is possible to find museum-grade pieces. The piece below is a piece of amber that managed to fall onto a hive of stingless bees, and capture more than 100 of them in one small piece.

Incredible Swarm of Stingless Bees - Such numerous inclusions that the piece appears dark, before closer inspection. Extremely rare.

Planthopper - B-grade preservation, common species.

Twig and Fly - Clear twig in bottom left, and fly in bottom middle. In amber carved into a large square cabochon.

Two Stingless Bees - In amber with lots of flow lines. Stingless bees are common in Mexican amber, as they lived among the algarrobo tree.

Large Ant and Fly - The ant may have been carrying the fly, as they are tangled up with each other. Good species interaction, somewhat rare.

Mexican Amber Colors      Mexican amber is renowned for its rich yellow colors, deep oxidized reds, and rare vibrant greens. The red ambers from Mexico are the richest hues of red that amber can produce. The greens are also unique and phenomenal. Mexican amber also has a striking character, and shows a lot of unique and strongly divided colors in a single piece.

Green Mexican Amber - Extremely rare.

Red Mexican Amber - Set in a silver pendant.

     Like all ambers, Mexican produces a lot of clear yellow pieces. The more clear the amber is, the more pure it is. If there is dark detritus in the amber, it makes it fun to look at, but a slightly lower grade.

A Grade Yellow - Set into a silver pendant. Good grade pieces are chosen for jewelry more than low grade pieces.

B Grade Yellow -  Amber full of detritus. This is considered lower quality, but it is fun to look at all of the colors it produces.

Red Mexican Amber

     Less than 1% of all amber from Mexico is red. This red amber is due to the amber being buried near the surface of the earth, where oxygen oxidizes the amber, turning it red. This is the finest and richest red tone of amber in the world. Its beauty when held in the sun is breathtaking.

Red Amber and Silver Earrings - Made with deep red sister cabochons.

AA Grade Red Mexican Amber - A large piece with rich red tones. When held up to the light, its color is unmatched. Very rare.

Red Amber Cabochon  - Red on the outside, and lighter in the middle. Good candidate for jewelry. 

Green Mexican Amber

Even more rare than red is green Mexican amber. Green amber is produced by sapling trees, which means it is only able to be produced during about a 5 year window of a trees life, making it very rare indeed. It tends to have a black smoke trapped inside of it, and no other amber in the world looks alike.

Green Mexican Amber  - With unique smokiness. This white smoke character is a patina that only takes place over years. It is very valuable.

Green and Red Mexican Amber -

     Mexican greens may be the single rarest color of all ambers. Only a handful of pieces a year are found in all the amber mines combined. Not only that, but green Mexican amber is unmistakable in its color and character. The smoky inclusions like this are simply not produced by any other deposit. In the amber world, green Mexican amber is extremely rare and coveted by collectors.

Green Mexican Amber - Showing an incredible green color, with white smoke on the surface and black smoke underneath. Unlike any other amber on Earth. Extremely rare.

Green Mexican amber - Wonderful, rare patina. this patina only happens on the most AAA Green Mexican amber pieces.

Green Mexican amber - The black lines at the bottom are smoky inclusions, and they will become the pattern of the patina after a few years.

Another Deep Green Mexican Amber - Varied patterns in the patina.

     Watch out for false green amber! What happens is, with normal low-grade Mexican amber, it will turn green if you shine a spotlight on it from above. This is not true green amber! It is low grade yellow. That type of green is called petrolification, and it is very common in all low-grade ambers. Online, you will see many of these labeled as green Mexican amber when they are not. They are real amber, and they are really green, but it's a different kind of green. You must distinguish from the truly good greens.

A Low Grade Yellow Mexican Amber

A Fake Green Mexican Amber which is Actually a Yellow Mexican Amber

Ghost Mexican Amber

One of the oddest colors in the amber world is not a color at all. It is clear, colorless amber called ghost amber. Mexican amber can very rarely be completely colorless. It is extremely rare, and usually only happens in sections within certain pieces. The reason this happens is unknown. 

Ghost Mexican Amber Slab - Notice the section in the bottom right that is completely colorless. That part is the ghost part. It is very rare, very unique to Mexican amber, and highly sought after by collectors. It can usually only be found in small segments. 

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

     The Good: Mexican amber has the best red and green ambers on Earth. All mining and working is done by the local communities, and the money supports the people who have always traditionally lived in this land.

     The Bad: Insect fossils here tend to be far lower quality and higher priced, making it not a good source to collect insects in amber from.

     The Ugly: Such a large deposit, managed by a private community, makes the locals at risk for international takeovers. Foreign investors have been known to go to Simojovel and disrupt the community by offering incredible sums of money for amber, but then leave the community poorer than before by underhanded business practices.