Home   >   Daily Wire Jewelry Tips   >   Daily Wire Tip April 7: How to Test Amber Beads for Authenticity

Daily Wire Tip April 7: How to Test Amber Beads for Authenticity

By on April 7, 2010
Print Friendly

Daily Wire Jewelry Making Tip
April 07, 2010

Question:

A friend has asked me to restring & knot a necklace that has been passed down in her family for about 150 years.  The beads look like they could be cherry amber, but I don’t see any inclusions.  Is there a way I can test the beads to see if they’re genuine?

Answer:

There are several ways to test amber to determine if it is real, copal, plastic/polyester or reconstituted/pressed. This link will take you to a page with a variety of tests, both kind and destructive, that can help you test your amber at home.  Amber Test

Although no test is absolutely conclusive, if you have a piece of amber that you think could be very old, real and therefore very expensive, I recommend sending it to an amber expert for proper identification.

Answer contributed by Dale “Cougar” Armstrong

Have a question? Submit your question here

One Comment

  1. avatar

    Casey Willson

    April 7, 2010 at 10:41 am

    wow! this is excellent information. Thanks!