Amber burmite

When dyed red it has been a convincing simulant of Burmese amber — burmite — a feet that has been much utilised by unscrupulous craftsmen. It is sometimes ftnmd for sale in some form of... 

Zherikhin, V. V. and Ross, A. J. (2000) A review of the history, geology and age of Burmese amber (Burmite). Bulletin of the Natural History Museum, Geology Series, 56 3-10. 

Some amber has been given common or commercial names based on the locality from which it comes. For example, Burmite is from Myanmar (formerly Burma), Rumanite comes from the Carpathian region of Romania, and Simetite is from the Simeto River area in Sicily. 

For many years it was not extracted due to the political situation in Myanmar, but a small amount is again beii mined and is available on the market. Burmite is a very beautiful material, which has for centuries been prized by the Chinese for carvii. It has hequently been copied, either by dyeing the surface of amber from another source, or by reconstituting amber and adding a red dye. It was also copied in red plastic, for example in Bakelite (Figs 13.5 and 13.6). 

Burmite is harder than other ambers and can contain many insect inclusions. 

Under ultraviolet light freshly cut or polished burmite fluoresces strongly with a striking, mid-blue colour (Fig. 1.16). Less fresh pieces may fluoresce with a beige colour. Burmite also fluoresces blue in sunlight, and, like Mexican amber, this fluorescence appears to come from the body of the amber rather than from the surface. 

Chinese amber is similar to burmite, and many of the old pieces of worked amber that have been labelled Chinese may in ftict be made of burmite. Some amber has been collected fix)m near Fushan. It contains some insects and is believed to be between 60 and 35 million years old. 

With the exception of burmite all the ambers mentioned so far are from the Tertiary period. There are many finds of amber from the Cretaceous period, 140 to 65 million years ago, but the vast majority of these are of little use as decorative material as they are far too brittle to work. They are usually found in very small pieces and tend to be a dull, opaque brown. They are, however, of great scientific interest, especially as some contain plant and animal inclusions. 

Japan, which at 100 to 85 million years old is, together with burmite, the oldest amber from which objects have been carved. The largest deposits are north of Tokyo, near the town of Kuji. 

Plastic is the most common simulant for amber, and it has been used since the early plastics came into production. Phenol formaldehyde - which is better known as Bakelite - was especially success-fill. It was dyed either a golden colour to resemble Baltic amber, or red to resemble burmite. Nowadays it is quite common to come across old jewellery made of Bakelite (Figs 13.4 and 13.5). 

The late nineteenth century saw the appearance of pressed amber, which was popular for smoking requisites and jewellety. Favourites pieces were faceted beads and brooches depicting flowers and finiit. Early plastics also appeared on the maricet and pretty, red Bakdite beads imitated burmite. When the film Jurassic Park came out at the end of the last century natural amber saw a renaissance, and it remains popular today. 

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