A BLUE AMBER SPECIMEN

A BLUE AMBER SPECIMEN

Hymenaea protera

Oligocene

Indonesia

18 cm, presented in a custom, mahogany black-light box. . One side has been polished while the other side has been left in its original rough condition.

A RARE SPECIMEN OF INDONESIAN BLUE AMBER.

In artifical light, blue amber often displays the characteristic honey-gold hue found in most fossilized tree resins, however when exposed to either direct sunlight or lit with long-wave Ultra Violet (UV) light, the amber fluoresces with a brilliant blue color. Blue amber is only found in three locations in the world, with the largest deposit being in the Dominican Republic, followed by smaller deposits in Mexico and Indonesia. Produced by the relatively short-lived Hymenaea protera tree, it is thought that the blue color is caused by the presence of anthracene, the result of incomplete combustion in massive forest fires of the now-extinct tree.