HowtoBuyHighQualityAmberAndSixDontBuyPrinciples

Many amber enthusiasts always complain that they can’t buy good amber and are often deceived. This may be because when buying amber, people have no principles and buy any kind of amber. As long as it looks okay and doesn’t seem fake, they will make the purchase. In fact, even if you don’t buy fake amber, what you get may be low-quality amber. The probability of buying natural high-quality amber this way is very small.
So, how can one buy good amber? First of all, we need to know what good amber is and what kind of amber can be considered good.

Look at the color. Generally, the colors of amber are divided into many types, such as red skin, orange peel, yellow skin, white wax, flower wax, etc. There is also purplish-red skin amber. These are all representative colors of good amber. Especially the purplish-red skin amber is extremely rare, which is a sign of good amber.

Look at the wax texture. Generally, full-wax amber is very rare and scarce, while flower wax is more common. However, red-skin flower wax is also rare. Therefore, we can judge whether amber is of good quality and valuable based on the different wax textures. Of course, together with the shell, shape, and size, the judgment will be more accurate.

Look at the integrity. Even if an amber has good wax texture and color, if it has defects or cracks, it will affect the overall value of the amber. So, we also need to see whether the integrity of the amber is good. This is also one of the important reasons affecting the value of amber.

Now that we know what good amber looks like, when buying amber, as long as we follow the following six don’t-buy principles, we basically won’t buy low-quality amber, and we won’t miss out on good amber either.

1. Buy thick rather than thin, and buy large rather than small. Amber is an organic gemstone. Generally, the formed pieces are relatively small, and large pieces of raw materials are very rare. So, many ambers on the market are small or thin pieces. Even if they are natural, the value of small and thin pieces of amber is not very high. Because large and thick raw materials are rarer, their value is higher. Even if the quality is very good, the volume largely determines the value of the whole piece of amber. Therefore, when buying amber, try to buy larger and thicker pieces.

2. Don’t buy if you can’t tell the authenticity. In today’s amber market, there is a lot of fakes, such as plastic amber, powder-pressed amber, copal resin, etc. So, when buying amber, in addition to preventing low-quality amber, we also need to guard against fake amber. Therefore, when buying amber, if you can’t tell the authenticity, never buy. Don’t have any lucky thoughts. Otherwise, you will often end up losing yourself.

III. Do not buy beeswax with abnormal colors

If the color of beeswax is abnormal, it is likely to be problematic. For example, it may have been soaked in alkaline water or boiled at high temperature, which will affect the quality of beeswax. But what kind of color is considered normal? In fact, it is hard to express in words. It is a kind of feeling, the feeling that it looks right. Generally speaking, the color should be uniform, moist, not dry or peculiarly white. By observing and learning more over time, one can develop an eye for it.

IV. Do not buy beeswax with incorrect textures

Beeswax also has textures. The key points of textures for new and old beeswax are different. For new beeswax, we focus on the textures in its internal structure. Natural beeswax has natural flowing textures formed when the resin flowed on the ground. However, second-generation powdered and pressed beeswax has artificial stirring textures, showing an obvious difference. Old beeswax has weathered textures, which are visible but not palpable. For artificially faked old beeswax, the weathered textures can be felt by hand.

V. Do not buy beeswax with too many impurities and cracks

This is probably well-known to everyone. Whether buying beeswax or other gemstones like agate, integrity is very important. Impurities and cracks will affect the overall value. Therefore, when buying beeswax, one must observe carefully. If there are too many impurities and cracks, do not buy it. If there are only a few minor ones that do not affect the overall aesthetics, it is acceptable.

VI. Do not buy beeswax with poor carving workmanship

As we all know, many excellent carvers are very picky about materials and look down on inferior materials. When they encounter good materials, they will design and carve with great care, showing all their skills. However, if the materials are not good, it is possible that apprentices will be asked to carve or the carving will be perfunctory. Therefore, to some extent, we can distinguish the quality of materials according to the quality of carving workmanship. After all, a good material should not be spoiled by poor carving. So, do not buy beeswax with poor carving workmanship, as the material itself is probably not of high quality either.

As long as you know what good beeswax is and follow the above six principles of not buying, although you may not necessarily buy extremely high-quality beeswax, you definitely won’t buy fake or inferior beeswax. Because fake and inferior beeswax do not meet these six principles and there is no way to slip through the net, unless you do not follow these six principles when buying. Then you can’t blame others.

How to Buy High-Quality Amber and the Six Don’t-Buy Principles

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