JulianoLPD Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 Hello again guys. As you may know, I just started in this world and I'm pretty enthusiastic about it. So I was taking a look at some listings in an auction website and the following items caught my attention. I had no reason to suspect the veracity of them judging by the photos (and I may be completely wrong since I have virtually none experience with this, but to me, it seemed real). What made me suspicious is what the seller stated about them, which follows: "Q: Why I use heat test ,the smell is not pine resin? A: Because the most insect amber in the market is form Baltic，the ambers are the fossil of pine resin, and burmite are the fossil of araucaria, so the smell is diffrent from pine resin, the smell just more like kerosene. PS. Because the burmite are older than Baltic amber, so hard than Baltic ambers, if not have crack,n ot afraid fall into the ground and not easy to been lighted." So, what do you think? Is this trustable? Do burmite amber really smell like kerosene or it's just some kind of fake plastic amber? Thanks in advance, Juliano Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seguidora-de-Isis Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 Olá meu querido amigo Juliano, é bom ver brasileiros aqui! Judging by the photos you posted here, in my opinion there is nothing to worry about. It's real, because I do not think the forger would have the job of putting so much debris into a fake amber. But anyhow, when this burmite arrives in your house, make these tests simple: 01 - When you poke it with a hot needle, the needle makes an impression but doesn't slice straight through it the burmite? A small gray smoke may rise in this process, but the important thing is that it should not smell like plastic. 02 - Rub your burmite vigorously with a soft cloth and make sure the stone will release a resinous scent, but that often this resinous scent may not be as pleasant even if it is authentic. 03 - Put your burmite in a bowl containing water with salt, and remember that a true amber should float in salt water unless there is not enough salt in the water. 04 - With a soft cloth rub your burmite vigorously, and then check for static energy. But it is important for me to tell you that I have some genuine ambers here in my collection that this method does not work, so I particularly find this method questionable. And the main thing of all you should not forget is that currently there are incenses made with pine that are excellently fragrant, while other incenses with pine have a bad smell. And you can even do this test by collecting resins from various pine trees and burning. You will notice that the smell is not the same from tree to tree of the same species, then imagine trees of different species like pine and araucaria. And so the same can happen with of these old resins that have or have not been through the polymerization stage. 6 Is It real, or it's not real, that's the question! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 I have heard the kerosene smell thing before, don't know if it's true, but it is a different type of tree. This looks real to me also. 2 Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulianoLPD Posted January 23, 2019 Author Share Posted January 23, 2019 Hola hermano! Gracias! Well, that's what I thought, but the thing about smelling like kerosene made my spidey sense trigger... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby Rico Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 I never heard of a amber smelling before (unless you count the hot needle test) but Adam really knows his stuff so I won’t disagree. I think it is real and a nice piece. I was wondering if it had been cleaned with lighter fluids or some buffing compound leaving a trace smell ? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oilshale Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 6 hours ago, JulianoLPD said: "Q: Why I use heat test ,the smell is not pine resin? A: Because the most insect amber in the market is form Baltic，the ambers are the fossil of pine resin, and burmite are the fossil of araucaria, so the smell is diffrent from pine resin, the smell just more like kerosene." The amber is not smelling by itself - only when you do the heat test, the smell of the fume is somehow different. Didn't test it, but could make sense. Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes (Confucius, 551 BC - 479 BC). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 5 hours ago, Bobby Rico said: I never heard of a amber smelling before (unless you count the hot needle test) but Adam really knows his stuff so I won’t disagree. I think it is real and a nice piece. I was wondering if it had been cleaned with lighter fluids or some buffing compound leaving a trace smell ? Yes, it's talking about the burn test. 1 Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulianoLPD Posted January 23, 2019 Author Share Posted January 23, 2019 Yes, I got it. Still thought it was strange to smell like kerosene... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby Rico Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 18 minutes ago, oilshale said: The amber is not smelling by itself - only when you do the heat test, the smell of the fume is somehow different. Didn't test it, but could make sense. Sorry I never sore that question when I replyed . Silly dyslexic I am. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldigger Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 Yoda was dyslexic too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldigger Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 31 minutes ago, Bobby Rico said: Sorry I never sore that question when I replyed . Silly dyslexic I am. Yoda must have been dyslexic too! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daves64 Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 I have several pieces of Amber that I've been working by hand. It isn't just the heat test that can bring out the scent. Sanding them does it as well, so does wearing a pendant of amber. Your body heat can be enough to activate the scent, even if only slightly. I have never heard of a kerosene scent from amber before though. 2 Accomplishing the impossible means only that the boss will add it to your regular duties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daves64 Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 Just now, caldigger said: Yoda must have been dyslexic too! No, just spoke dyslexic he did. 1 Accomplishing the impossible means only that the boss will add it to your regular duties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 It's possible,given what resinites such as Burmite amber are,the presence of (trace amounts of )hydrocarbons shouldn't be surprising 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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