With the burgeoning jewellery market in recent years, the prices of various jewellery and jade have risen, and the price of amber has also risen rapidly. Especially in 2014, amber merchants, counters, and franchise stores in various major markets increased rapidly. Major exhibitions, wholesale markets, and processing plants increased their area and increased production capacity, which eventually led to a big increase in amber prices.
The major media talked about prices and collections, and introduced simple identification methods. The National Jewelry Quality Supervision and Inspection Center Laboratory (hereinafter referred to as NGTC) is no exception. Originally, the experimental benches filled with jade, white jade, etc., were often filled with amber samples sent by the merchants. A variety of amber samples were sent to the show, and the NGTC laboratory faced an unprecedented amber detection challenge, not only the challenge of amber detection, but also the challenge of the inspectors' cognitive experience and care.
It is well known that amber is accumulated by the resin of plants such as pine or legumes, and is buried in the ground through geological effects. It has been gradually petrified after a long geological time. Amber is produced in a large number of countries, mainly in the Baltic countries, the Caribbean countries and Myanmar. In Romania, the United States, Canada, India, Vietnam, New Zealand and other countries also have output, China's amber is mainly produced in Fushun, Liaoning, Xixia, Henan and other places.
Natural amber is amorphous, transparent, translucent to opaque, with colors ranging from yellow-white to yellow to dark brown, and red, brown-red, green, and so on.
The industry often divides amber into several varieties based on the cause, color, and characteristics of amber. According to the amber rough mining, it is divided into Haiper, Mine and Lake; according to the degree of amber transparency, it is divided into amber (transparent), golden twisted honey, beeswax, bones, etc.; according to the color of amber can be divided into blood , 翳 ã€, Jin Po, Lan Po and Green Po, etc.; according to the characteristics of amber internal inclusions, are divided into water, flower, insect, insect and plant.
In the national standard, according to the characteristics of transparency, color, inclusion body, etc., the following sub-species are defined - beeswax: yellowish white to dark brown, translucent to opaque, waxy amber; goldper: yellow to Golden transparent amber; blood: brown red to red transparent amber, color red as blood is top grade; blue pe: perspective observation of amber body color is yellow, brown yellow, yellow green and brown red, under natural light Unique blue of different shades, more transparent under ultraviolet light; green pe: light green to green transparent amber, rare; insect: amber containing insects or other organisms; plant pe: contains plants (such as flowers Amber, leaves, roots, stems, seeds, etc.)
Amber identification
The laboratory's identification procedure for amber is generally summarized into two major steps—determining the amber variety and determining whether the sample has been artificially processed or artifactd.
Determine the amber variety—that is, first determine if the sample is amber, and distinguish amber from its imitations and natural counterparts. Imitations such as artificial plastics, resins, etc., natural similar products such as glutinous resin, rosin, natural resin and the like. When determining amber samples, large instruments such as infrared spectrometers are often used for analysis.
Determine whether the sample has been manually processed or artifacts - manual treatment marked with the standard when the name is required to have a film treatment (colored film), filling treatment, etc.; artifacts mainly reconstituted amber, flat amber and so on. In this step, when testing samples, conventional methods such as magnification inspection, optical characteristics, and ultraviolet fluorescence are often used.
Amber detection risk
Usually, the laboratory can basically obtain accurate test results by the identification of the above two steps. However, in a large number of samples for inspection, whether it is manual processing, artifacts or imitations, similar products, the exquisite workmanship can reach a very high degree of similarity with natural amber, plus sample combinations such as beads and large carvings. Diversified, making it more complex and concealed. Amber identification is far more difficult and risky than the description of the text.
Judging by the naked eye or by experience alone, it is difficult to determine the authenticity of amber. The distinction between amber and natural resin is a big challenge, and it is often found in the market under the trade name “origin + amberâ€, which is often bought by unsuspecting merchants and consumers.
Commercially known as ç‚ba resin, "Colombian amber", "Borneo amber", "Sumatran amber", etc., the similarity of appearance and amber similarity, there are only a small number of peak differences in the infrared spectrum, very It is easy to be confused, and most of them cannot be distinguished after the enlargement check, let alone by the naked eye.
These "similar to amber" are the same natural resins as amber, but the geological age, geological effect and degree of compaction are different. The former is younger. Although some similar varieties have a sticky feeling compared with amber, this feature is not present in all products, and it requires an experienced person to make a preliminary judgment. Therefore, it is still necessary to use an analytical instrument such as infrared spectroscopy. Last confirmation.
If the product has been processed by manual treatment, such as filling and laminating treatment, after the first step of detection, in the second step, it is still necessary to carefully observe under the magnifying glass, and partially use different fluorescent phenomena under ultraviolet light to Undergo verification. This link is a test of the "mirror work" of the inspectors.
Amber filling treatment: Amber is generally filled with artificial resin with polymerization function. The appearance gloss is almost the same as that of amber. Under the magnifying glass or microscope, it can be seen that the filling is mostly concave and accompanied by air bubbles remaining during the filling process. In the case of ultraviolet fluorescence, especially when the fluorescence phenomenon is magnified, we can clearly observe the filling phenomenon.
Amber coating: At present, the common amber coating is a colorless and colored film. The colorless film protects the surface of the amber, increases the gloss, and also increases the weight of the amber; the colored film can be coated on the colorless or light color to make the sample have the desired color, common Such as blood, gold, blue and other colors. We can discover the "marks" of these coatings by observing the subtle phenomena such as surface peeling, spray marks, and uneven coloration, so that they can not escape.
Recently, it was found that a layer of "light yellow-yellow" film was coated on the original light yellow amber, and a product of "chicken oil yellow" was comprehensively produced, and they were sent together with the sample coated with the colorless film for detection. Because "chicken oil yellow" is a common color in amber, and the color of the film is similar to the color of the main body, only a small number of depressions have uneven color or local enrichment, and the tester will cause leakage if not noticed.
Reconstituted amber is formed by pressing amber pieces or crumbs at a suitable temperature and pressure to form a larger piece of amber, also known as pressed amber. After the infrared spectrum is determined to be an amber component, it needs to rely mainly on light transmission observation or microscopic observation. These products have a "blood filament"-like structure, and distribute flake cracks along the "blood filament", with granular structure, visible grain boundaries, etc. And so on; at the same time, combined with the extinction zone under the polarizer and the white-blue fluorescence of the grainy light under the ultraviolet fluorescent lamp, the method is distinguished.
The amber is made up of artificial gems whose main material is amber, other materials are amber, natural resin or imitation amber, which are artificially combined to give an overall large impression. In the magnified inspection, these products can be seen in different combinations of color, gloss and fluorescent characteristics, and there are differences, or the natural texture of amber presents discontinuity; visible joints and joints of cement and bubbles. Under long-wave ultraviolet rays, the fluorescence of different components is inconsistent, and sometimes the weak blue fluorescence of the glue is seen. Even different parts can be determined by infrared spectroscopy to determine different components.
A piece of amber beads, no matter 18 or 21, or 108 or 216, whether it is a string, a bead, a necklace or a bead, is a sample. Only one certificate is issued, one test result. However, during the daily testing process, it is occasionally found that there may be another kind of other substances in the whole strip, that is, natural may be doped with artificially treated amber, artificially reconstituted amber, natural resin similar products or artificial resin. Imitations, etc.
In a nutshell, for the professional testing laboratory for jewellery and jade, the risk of amber testing challenges the eyesight, care and patience of each tester. Institutions and personnel engaged in amber testing should understand and master the market dynamics of related amber as much as possible, especially in processing, processing, and variety. It is also necessary to collect relevant samples for research and analysis, and to improve the amber and The awareness of related species reduces the greater risk that various unknowns may bring. In the detection, it is more necessary to conduct a comprehensive and systematic test. It should not be taken lightly, and it should not be considered as a professional or experienced, but ignore some links or ignore subtle features to avoid unnecessary losses.
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