Blue Amber Jewelry: Light Captured In Stone

From the days unmemorable, it was considered a divine feature that light was captured in amber. People had different beliefs regarding the fluorescence of the stone. The ancient Greeks believed that therays of the Sun God were trapped inside and on the other hand the Chinese believed that the souls of tigers were trapped inside after their death. However, all held the stone with great reverence and for centuries this amber was not meant for the masses and was worn by the people who were extremely rich.

Science Over Belief

The ever attracting blue color of the amber stone is the phenomenon in which the ultra-violet light of the sun acts as a stimulus which results the fluorescence of the blue amber. It is a scientific aspect that causes the blue color. The spectral transmittance of the wavelength 530 nm prevents the UV rays or any short wave visible light to pass. As this is absorbed completely only the blue color is stimulated and confined to the surface of the stone. Hence, this color of the amber stone is due to the result of surface fluorescence and not iridescence.

The Blue Color

Iridescence is a scientific phenomenon in which the surface of a material appears to change along with the change in the angle of illumination. The different heterogenic surface layers result in diffraction of light. The light gets diffused and cannot cause any interference for iridescence for which uniform layer of the material is required to give the required thickness to get the visible lights to be diffused.The irresistibly attractive color of the Blue Amber from the Dominican Republican region is due to the presence of perylene. It is the hydrocarbon ingredient of the material which is aromatic and results in the UV stimulated emission of fluorescence. The visible wavelength is 430 to 530 nm in which this blue hue is observed.

The Different Colors

The other different colors of amber stones are yellow, red, green which are primarily found in the Baltic regions. These color changes are affected due to the UV fluorescence. The stronger is the UV fluorescence the more effective is the effective color change viewed in the incandescent light or sunlight. The thickness of the stone is also a factor for color change and is known as Usambara effect. This is the effective change due to the change in angle of the path length of light.

The Fact

The color of the Blue Amber stone sold in Drfinejewels.com is just the superficial aspect of the stone which is brought by the diffusion of light according to the difference in the wavelength of light through the different heterogeneous layers of the stone. The main factor that one can feel that light is trapped inside the stone is the photoluminescence and fluorescent properties of resin at ordinary room temperature. The calorimetric data variance at different depths of the stone material is the determining factor of the color of the stone which is an indicative property of the Usambara effect.