Subject: Re: Amber

From: [email-masked] (PeterWRowe)
Date: 18 May 1995 02:47:15 -0400

I just came back from a trip to Latvia in March.  I brought back some
Amber and have a chance to purchase more.  Does anyone know if there
is much of a market.  What the price ranges are? If there is a grading
system.  Please e-mail me if you have some information which might
help me.       
<<

 There must be a market.  At all the local gem and mineral shows there
seem to be scads of folks peddling amber, particularly baltic sources. 
The combination of the now fading "Jurassic Park" craze, and the political
changes in the baltic area which now is making export and free enterprise
possible, has brought a lot of folks into the amber business.  You're
welcome to try and join them.  But I'd suspect that it may have been a
transient interest, as many of the marketers keyed into the Jurrasic Park
popularity (Even home shopping networks got into that act) and that
interest seems to be fading a bit.

There are plenty of ways of describing amber, but to my knowledge, no
universally accepted grading system.  You can, of course simply describe
it in strict gemological terms.  GIA colored stone grading terms are quite
sufficient to accuratly describe color, and you can verbally describe
transparency, treatments or lack thereof, sizes, inclusions, unusual
features.  But if you want a simple ABCDEF etc scale, I'm not aware of
any.

Prices vary a great deal from quite expensive for well cut finished goods
such as facetted bead necklaces (plain round beads are less, and free form
goods become really cheap...) or large pieces set in nice handmade jewelry
or with unusual insect inclusions etc.  But as with the non existence of
grading systems, prices vary a great deal, even with similar goods from
dealers at the same market level and in the same show...   Perhaps it has
something to do with how desperatly the dealer needs airfare home from the
show...

Peter