Description: Amber, precious, magical Amber! This fabulous yellow amber/sterling silver necklace is valued well above asking price. Large chunks of gleaming golden amber from Chiapas, Mexico combine to create a bold one-of-a-kind statement-making piece. As amber is a fossilized resin and not a stone, this necklace is much lighter weight than one with similarly sized semi-precious stones.
Many people associate amber with the film “Jurrasic Park” and it is no accident that the prehistoric fable featured this antiquity. Amber is perhaps the oldest substance used for human adornment with beads and pendants having been discovered in northern Eropean gravesite dating back to 8000 B.C.
This fossilized resin of coniferous trees of the Oligoncene geolocial epoch, some 30 millions years ago, usually contains historical remnants of plants, insects and small animals which became stuck in the resin before it solidified. It varies in color from pale yellow to dark brown — although more rare hues of reds, greens and blues distinguishes amber mined in caves of Chiapas, Mexico.
Because amber, unlike gemstones, is warm to the touch and often contains insect fragments, it was thought to possess life and has always been associated with magic and the supernatural. It was sacred to worshippers of the Mother Goddess in classical times and continues to be favored for its protective qualities by Wiccans and Shaman today.
In ancient times, amber was burned to cleanse the air, especially during childbirth and was thought to improve eyesight by gazing into it. The ancient Greeks were the first to record information about amber’s “electrical” properties. When rubbed with a piece of silk, it will attract dust and ashes. Before the Spanish conquest in the 16th Cetury, some towns in Mexico and Central America used amber to honor their great warriors
Baltic Amber is the most readily available but is often treated to enhance its color. More rare is amber that hails from the Simojovel area of Chiapas, Mexico, which is hand polished by Mayan Indigenoous (Tzotzil) and renowned for its inclusions and natural colors (ranging from yellow and browns to reds, blues and greens).
Price: $365.00 plus S&H
Item#: N015
(Click photo to enlarge)