Earendil Posted March 21, 2022 Share Posted March 21, 2022 Hello everyone, saw this Burmese Amber leaf for sale and it looked a bit too good to be true. I usually buy Baltic so I'm not familiar with who's reputable and not in the Burmese world. Dimensions are 31/14/6.9 mm and it weighs 1.87g. Is the whitish strip running down the side all natural or is it glue? Do you guys think it looks legit? Thanks! "Its webs of living gauze no more unfurl; Wrecked is the ship of pearl! And every chambered cell, Where its dim dreaming life was wont to dwell" -From The Chambered Nautilus by Oliver Wendell Holmes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoda Posted March 21, 2022 Share Posted March 21, 2022 Looks real. One sees this type for sale fairly often 1 MotM August 2023 - Eclectic Collector Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mochaccino Posted March 22, 2022 Share Posted March 22, 2022 (edited) I'm no expert but it seems real to me as well. If this seller is who I think it is, I know for a fact that their pieces are genuine burmite, as I've ordered several and done the "amber tests" for authenticity: fluoresces under UV light, floats in saturated saltwater, and is impervious to acetone. The whitish strip actually may be the cross-section of the leaf that has been exposed. If you look carefully especially in this photo you can see the leaf lined up nicely with said strip: I assume this either happens during collection, polishing, is just found that way, but in any case is not typical for fake amber. The presence of several cracks through the piece is also not typical of fakes. I'm personally a little hesitant to buy pieces with such exposed cross sections as I fear for further decomposition. I don't know if that's actually a concern, but I just prefer to have my inclusions completely enclosed in amber. Still, this one looks like a genuine piece, though of course you'd need to do the tests to be 100% sure. Edited March 22, 2022 by Mochaccino Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoda Posted March 22, 2022 Share Posted March 22, 2022 34 minutes ago, Mochaccino said: The whitish strip actually may be the cross-section of the leaf that has been exposed. If you look carefully especially in this photo you can see the leaf lined up nicely with said strip: I assume this either happens during collection, polishing, is just found that way, but in any case is not typical for fake amber. The presence of several cracks through the piece is also not typical of fakes. I'm personally a little hesitant to buy pieces with such exposed cross sections as I fear for further decomposition. I don't know if that's actually a concern, but I just prefer to have my inclusions completely enclosed in amber. Still, this one looks like a nice, genuine piece, though of course you'd need to do the tests to be 100% sure. To me, the whitish section looks like an area that wasn't polished during the polishing process. For reasons unknown. It's not the best looking specimen, but if it's relatively cheap I would go for it. MotM August 2023 - Eclectic Collector Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mochaccino Posted March 22, 2022 Share Posted March 22, 2022 (edited) 6 minutes ago, Yoda said: To me, the whitish section looks like an area that wasn't polished during the polishing process. For reasons unknown. It's not the best looking specimen, but if it's relatively cheap I would go for it. Could be that as well. If it's simply unpolished that would be preferable to having an exposed section of the fossil in my opinion. I personally wouldn't take the risk on this one in case it's the latter. Edited March 22, 2022 by Mochaccino 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earendil Posted March 24, 2022 Author Share Posted March 24, 2022 Thanks everybody for the responses! I passed on this one, I really appreciate it! "Its webs of living gauze no more unfurl; Wrecked is the ship of pearl! And every chambered cell, Where its dim dreaming life was wont to dwell" -From The Chambered Nautilus by Oliver Wendell Holmes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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