Amber is made up of tree resin which has fossilized. Amber is millions of years old. It is said to be a time capsule as it contains links from the early past of life on our planet. One can see the proof that even prehistoric man found amber attractive - we can find several ancient beads and carvings made on amber.

This is the gem that glows like honey or drops of the sun. Most scientists agree that it would be unlikely to find something so ancient. Most amber is 25 to 50 million years old.

The color of amber gem varies from yellow to dark brown to almost black. Amber is very rarely found in green and blue-gray colors. The color of amber denotes the area from where it has originated. Also one can judge the age of the amber from its colour.

Paleolithic man in Austria also used amber gemstones (45000 - 12000 B.C.). The nomadic hunters of the Mesolithic age (12000 - 4000 B.C.) used amber to hunt animals. They carved phases of the moon, hunting seasons and the animals that they hunted on amber.

The Neolithic man (4000-1900 B.C.) started using amber as decorative articles and jewels. The rich people of these societies usually owned amber jewelry and used to gift it to their friends and relatives.

Later, towards the end of the eighth century B.C. the Greeks started using amber for inlay work in gold and ivory. Romans found use for amber only in the first century B.C to first century A.D, where they made rings and vessels out of amber.

Ancient Greeks called amber 'Elektron' - meaning 'made out of the sun'. One ancient account explains that 'amber is the juice of the setting sun that congeals in the sea, which is why it can be found on beaches.

The amber stone was mined in the mountains of Lebanon by Aftim Acra, who has a collection of amber pieces containing 700 insects, including termites, moths, caterpillars, spiders, pseudo-scorpions, and midges. Over 1,000 species of extinct insects have been found in amber.

The Baltic States and the Dominican Republic are the two main sources of amber in the market today. Amber from the Baltic is older and more valuable but amber from the Dominican Republic is more likely to have insect inclusions, which are prized by collectors.

The largest mine in the Baltic region is in Russia, west of Kaliningrad. Baltic amber is found in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Russia, and occasionally washed up on the shores of the Baltic Sea as far away as Denmark, Norway, and England. Myanmar (Burma), Lebanon, Mexico, Sicily, Germany, Canada, and Romania are other sources of amber.