This is natural Dominican amber. It is the REAL thing, natural amber just the way it comes from the mines. Natural Colors of Dominican Amber Natural Dominican amber and natural Baltic amber are both old, hard amber. But in contrast to Baltic Amber, Dominican amber is never heat treated to reproduce the green, honey, red or even blue color, or make it transparent by boiling it in rapeseed oil or in the fat of a suckling pig. (Don't laugh.) This was and is a method used in famous amber countries to produce rare colors and effects. Some imitate green amber even by applying paint to the backs of the amber stones. It also is heated up and cooled down to produce the "sun spangles" (flints) and treated in vacuum chambers (autoclaved) and what have you. Much Baltic amber flooding the market is made only of amber rejects and amber sawdust or meal, changed in color, melted up and pressed and still called: "real amber", "Genuine amber" etc. Even certificates are being offered. But Dominican amber uses none of these methods. They just find it that way and cut and polish it. What you see is what you get. Yes, these Caribbeans are very fortunate to have naturally what others dream of and try to copy artificially. Besides the beautiful beaches and waters. And rum. Of course, Dominican Amber also comes in "Amber Colors". There are the honey, yellow, brown and all shades in between. Most of them are naturally transparent or translucent. Dominican Amber is not "succinite" but "retinite". It is fossilized tree resin from an ancient relative of a tropical species called "algarroba". Ok. Let's sum it up: * Dominican amber is found in a wide range of natural colors, some exclusively Dominican, which also places it as a class apart. * Dominican amber is not "enhanced" by heat, oil treatment or autoclaved. These technics are not even known here. * It is cut and polished fossil resin, just the way it comes from the mines. * No pressed amber or is produced. Amber pieces too small to be used, or to ugly to be used, or amber meal are disposed of. * Amber production is not industrialized. Whatever is made from Dominican Amber, beads, cabochons, carvings etc. is "hand made" and original. Chinese Dragon carved from Dominican Blue Amber * Amber from the Dominican Republic can be cut and polished with much success. Craftsmen make excellent figures from this material. It can be highly polished and turned into beautiful jewelry. * The occurrence of fossil insects in Dominican Amber is about 10 times higher than in Baltic amber. Dominican amber is also 90 percent more transparent. Inclusions are generally more visible. But, Alas!, Dominican amber is very rare. It is not found in large quantities, or mined with big machinery, the industrial way. Everything is done with picks, and shovel, the old, the traditional way. All this makes it more exclusive.

"At Santiago, in San Domingo, in the valley of the brook Acagua, amber pieces, some as large as the egg of a goose, reward the explorer." J.G. Haddow, Liverpool, 1891

Although times have changed and amber is not found as easily as J.G.Haddow described it in 1891, we do have our contacts directly into the mines. We are your direct link.
We are from The Amber Ranch.

Author Archive

Dominican Amber

by The Amber Ranch | October 21, 2009 | In Dominican Amber No Comments

Short Information

Dominican amber is OLD amber, from 20 to 35 million years. It is not “succinite” but “retinite”. It is fossilized tree resin from an ancient relative of a tropical species called “algarroba”. It is real amber, and strongly fluorescent, more than any other. (See scientific reference literature at the foot of this page and find more information here. )


mineros1Only during the last 50 years, Dominican amber mines are a major source of amber, although its existence has been known since the times of the descovery of the island by Christopher Colombus. 

The outcrop is much less than Baltic amber, therefore it is rare in the true meaning of the word and not found all over the world. In contrast to much amber on the market today, it has never been industrialized, enhanced, artificially colored, heat treated, boiled, or melted together.

It is the amber that still carries the tradition of being something special, accessible only for a few. Hence, it is not the amber you will see in the Supermarket jewelry store next door.

To sum it up in a general way:

* If you want to be sure that you get natural amber 100 % in it’s original form, “Made by Nature”, each piece an original, not treated in any way, we recommend Dominican Amber. 

* If you want high quality NATURAL BLUE AMBER, Dominican amber is your ONLY choice.

Learn more about Dominican Amber

Go to our catalog.


Much information about Dominican Amber, its advantages and how it is mined, you will find in the book The Amber Forest: A Reconstruction of a Vanished World by George Poinar, Jr., and Roberta Poinar
You might also want to consult Discovering the lost world of the amber forests by the BBC Radio. 
Also check Dominican Amber in Wikipedia