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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;lizjewel, post: 1768476, member: 13874&quot;]In 1990 when I operated a weekend stall in a local antiques mall I was often visited by people with something to sell. One day a 30+ couple with a heavy Russian accent showed me a lot of assorted amber jewelry, pendants, bracelets, earrings. </p><p><br /></p><p>They explained that they had brought it with them from Russia and that the origin of the jewelry was Polish, crafted in Poland from amber found on the shores of the Baltic Sea. </p><p><br /></p><p>I am familiar with this type amber as it was often brought back by Swedish tourists who visited the Baltic states on vacation, including my own sister who owned some. </p><p><br /></p><p>This amber is not considered old but when the <i>Amber Craze</i> struck the Western countries in the late 1980s, amber jewelry suddenly became red hot. Many with a little chemistry know-how got into it and plastic was often combined in the mix with not-so antique bugs, spiders, beetles, incorporated to make it appear prehistoric [Think <i>Jurassic Park</i>]. The amber was often not genuine amber either but a version of it called <i>Copal </i>(look it up), mostly found in the Caribbean. </p><p><br /></p><p>The jewelry shown here is of the type that this couple showed me. It had a certain Bohemian attraction but was crudely wrought, poorly finished, unfortunately. Clasps were crude handwrought hooks, even on bracelets, not very wearable.</p><p><br /></p><p>Savvy Western fashion wearers do not care to have sharp unfinished edges on pendants and chains catch on their expensive sweaters, blouses. This jewelry had. Also, original holes, cracks and chips in the <i>amber</i> stones were included, even to the point of gaping in the sides of oval and round pendants. </p><p><br /></p><p>Jewelry has but one primary function: It must be attractive for anyone to want to desire it. It if it&#039;s not attractive, well made, wearable as executed, it&#039;s not desirable. Not even if it&#039;s of a material like amber, or bakelite, or any other <i>flavor-of-the-moment</i> material.</p><p><br /></p><p>Noting the poor workmanship and crude amber in the pieces I passed on the offering. However, I do believe that this Baltic amber jewelry is still floating around in the U.S. and elsewhere. Pehaps it has a certain attraction as a collectible by now with age and history added as most of it came in after the fall of the <i>Evil Empire</i>. As for its attractiveness as jewelry I still reserve my opinion.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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