Amber is fossilized tree-sap that has hardened over the years to the degree that is can be made into a gem.

It is one of the earliest materials known to be used in personal adornments. The majority of quality amber is found in the Dominican Republic , Mexico , Burma , along the Baltic coasts of Poland and Russia , in Romania and Sicily . It's a very accommodating material, soft enough to be pliable, but hard enough to polish and it is easily dyed into different colors. As it is not stone, amber is very light in weight and isn't weighed or evaluated in carats or points like other gems. It is inexpensive and affordable to most everyone, making for lovely, cheap pieces of jewelry. Since the Stone Age, this material has been used in various adornments and decorations, and even today it is very popular. Beautifully colored, amber comes in utterly translucent to opaque hues ranging from the palest yellows, to orange, red, dark crimson and brown. Despite being very cheap, it is frequently imitated in plastic and glass. One method of making larger pieces is to heat and reconstitute smaller pieces into ‘pressed amber'. However, the task of recognizing and identifying real amber from imitation amber couldn't be simpler. Amber floats (especially if the water is saturated with salt), while plastic casts usually don't. Furthermore, if you touch the surface with a hot pin the amber will smoke with the smell of pine-sap. It is difficult to mistake that smell. Plastic will not smoke, but scar blackly