This is a sort of rectangular, lightly polished blue amber from a new discovery in Sumatra, Indonesia. It weighs 8.42 grams and measures 1.5” by 1.1” by 0.2” and under normal light she looks gold and brown with a large “tube” and what looks like plant pieces inside. One area even resembles a little brown bird. Under UV light, the amber turns blue! The color produced arises from its origins, formed from the sap of the Hymenaea protera tree … the same tree that contributes the color to Dominican amber. Under ultraviolet light, her amber color becomes kind of an ocean blue! Please note that any pink you see is not fluorescent, but rather a reflection from the UV flashlight that I use.

Hand polishing amber is an act of love taking much time, patience and love. The outer, rough layers are taken off with rough sandpaper and then the amber is smoothed with increasingly less rough sandpaper until the amber glows and can receive a final gleaming polish.

Hymenaea protera is an extinct prehistoric leguminous tree, the probable ancestor of present-day Hymenaea species. Most neotropical ambers come from its fossilized resin, including the famous Dominican amber and now the Sumatran amber. This heritage is what gives the blue amber it’s famous blue color and lovely blue fluorescence. The Sumatran blue ambers are far bluer than the Dominican amber. The Dominican will show the blue fluorescence in sunlight whereas the Sumatran amber is deep blue to begin with in the raw material solely due to its thickness but shows a notable somewhat turquoise-blue when ultraviolet light hits it. The polished Sumatran amber is transparent and features the wondrous golden to red tones, but the same lovely blue color under ultraviolet light.

Click on the link below to see additional pictures.

Sort of Rectangular Polished Blue Amber