The Story of Blue Amber
(or "Why is it blue?")
Let's tally up what we know so far.
Certain natural elements (plants, etc) have molecules whose atoms suck up invisible light and make it visible.
The connection is there. Fluorescence occurs naturally and Amber as we know it is also plant derived, so to speak. Would this then mean that the Amber trees contained elements that were fluorescent?
Looks that way. At least Dominican Amber. Under a bankers UV light Dominican Amber becomes a light milky blue - Baltic Amber doesn't (one interesting way to keep them apart).
However, Blue Amber is the only Amber that is fluorescent even under daylight. So the fluorescent molecules in Blue Amber are of a higher saturation than in Ordinary Amber. How on earth did they get there? Again, we don't know. But -you guessed it- we got a neat little theory on that.
Anthracene Hypothesis
Let's remember where Amber comes from: trees. The resin becomes Amber, but what becomes of the rest of the organic material from that tree? It undergoes a similar process as Amber and becomes Coal.
Which is why people digging for coal often find Amber, and people digging for Amber often find coal.
We know that from the incomplete combustion of coal and wood and pretty much any other sort of fire, we can get polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Although Blue Amber, when polished, smells different than Ordinary Amber, the term -aromatic- may be misleading: in this case it has nothing to do with odor, referring instead to the hydrocarbon's chemical properties.
One well known hydrocarbon that is fluorescent is anthracene. It is used in the artificial production of dye, wood preservatives, insecticides, and coating materials and rats don't like it. It is entirely colorless but glows blue under ultraviolet light, and if the anthracene contains traces of naphtacene, then the fluorescent glow may be more green than blue.
So is there anthracene in Blue Amber?
The magic words from above are "incomplete combustion", meaning it takes a fire to produce these fluorescent molecules. Previously we have established that Blue Amber may be the result of a fire, giving possible ash residue as evidence. And where there's fire, there's anthracene.
However, recent studies by Vittorio Bellania and Enrico Giulotto at the University of Pavia, Italy paint a clearer picture. They studied several amber specimens via means of optical absorption, fluorescence spectroscopy, and time-resolved fluorescence measurements. The resulting spectral analysis revealed that the spectra of the hydrocarbons are very similar in shape to those of diluted solutions of anthracene, perylene, and tetracene, but it is the perylene that get's the cigar. Its emission occurs nearly exactly in the same spectral range of blue amber, indicating that the fluorecent hydrocarbon responsible for the blueness is most likely perylene.
Don't believe me? Get one of our beautiful Blue Amber pieces and go clubbing, or simply step into the sun if you please...
Real blue amber is only found in one country: here in the Caribbean, in the Dominican Republic. If you want to buy Dominican blue amber, we as amber gemstone dealer and direct exporter are here directly at the foot of the mountain where blue amber is found with the best contacts into the mine to serve you the best we can.
We of AmbarAzul sell Dominican Blue Amber and amber gem stones wholesale to you directly from the place of its very origin. Amber jewelry supplier and Dominican blue amber sterling silver jewelry and gold jewelry supplier using Dominican amber directly from the mines, as a manufacturer who offers custom crafted amber semi products and amber and silver jewelry, rough amber and raw amber from the Dominican mines in the Caribbean, aamber cabochons, or amb er cabs, mber earrings, amber bracelets, amber rings, amber chains, amber necklaces and blue amber necklaces as well as beads and cabochons and typical Caribbean amber jewelry.
There are several theories about the origin of the blue color in blue Dominican amber and it is not fully understood what causes the blue color in Dominican blue amber. We know that it is a result of blue fluorescence and no solid blue color. The best way to test blue amber is placing it under an ultra-violet lamp which intensifies the blue olor to a radiant cobalt-blue. And, we have noticed that blue amber can be recognized by a very agreeable smell.
One theory links the color in Dominican blue amber to the occurrence of volcanic ash or dust which was present when the resin was first pressed out from hymenaea protera millions of years ago.
And - of course - besides the blue Dominican amber, we also have rough amber in regular amber colors and all those special amber colors like green amber and blood red amber, purple amber, as they are only found in Dominican Amber. Blue amber comes in different shades of blue. It is difficult to put Dominican Blue Amber into categories, since our Caribbean amber is not an industrial product. In the lower quality (regular blue amber), the blue tone can only really be appreciated under an ultra violet light source. Then you will find a strong blue reflection in the yellow undertone of Dominican blue amber (strong blue).
But there is also something we call "ultra blue amber" which is visible in almost any kind of light. This is extremely rare, hard to get and - of course - the most expensive kind of Dominican blue amber. And - of course - there is everything in between, never the same, because it is the beauty of nature and not a semi-industrial product like reconstituted and enhanced material from some other countries.
Amber from the Dominican Republic is renowned for the diversity of fossils and inclusions it contains, the three rare "treasures", which are scorpions, lizards and frogs but also many other "bugs" in amber, like pseudo scorpion, fly, damsel fly, dragon fly, termite in amber. Therfore, we also offer fossil amber with bugs in amber. Our Dominican Blue Amber is the REAL thing, natural amber just the way it comes from the mines.
While the mystery around the origin of its color has not been cleared, one thing is sure: Dominican Blue Amber is beautiful and it is extremely rare.