Amber - Blue Copal

Copal amber is fossilized tree sap. Fossilized tree sap is usually yellow or brown in color and often preserves flow bands and sometimes fossils of insects and other animals. Recently, fossilized feathers of a dinosaur were found in amber from China, preserving the color of the feathers and extreme detail, making this a very significant scientific find. Unfortunately, these finds may be lost to the mining industry that uses dynamite to extract the amber for commercial use.

Blue amber is rare. It was first found in the Dominican Republic and is now most commonly exported from Indonesia. The blue color is a unique phenomenon resulting from florescence stimulated by UV light. When light passes through the amber and strikes a dark surface, the light is refracted by the amber. Hydrocarbons in the amber shift the frequency of the UV light into the blue, giving the amber a blue hue.

Note that amber is tree sap.  It is soft and can be gummy when wet.  This may require special attention when cutting.