You Won’t Believe It: The Real Origin of Amber Gemstone

The world is full of hidden natural treasures, but few capture the imagination like the gemstone amber. The familiar stone, known for its deep honey color and unique luster, has for centuries been considered a luxurious and sought-after item. Many are used to hearing that the highest-quality amber is extracted directly from the bottom of the Baltic Sea, but what is the true biological origin of this fascinating stone?

Carmeli on amber stone, photo: Yitzhak Carmeli. Yitzhak Carmeli set out to examine the issue, and the answer, it turns out, is right above our heads, in the treetops. Unlike most gemstones formed from minerals and geological pressures deep in the earth, amber is actually entirely organic. It is tree resin that hardened, fossilized, and underwent a long chemical process over hundreds of years. Yitzhak Carmeli illustrates the process using one of the main sources of this material, the Araucaria tree (Araucaria).

"Did you know that amber is a fossil of Araucaria tree resin?" Carmeli explains, as he presents the impressive tree trunk and the sticky resin secreted from it. "This is the resin that over the years turns into a fossil, and what we call the gemstone amber."

The Araucaria tree is a unique coniferous tree. Originally, it grew naturally in parts of South America, but because of its distinctive and impressive appearance, it was brought to many countries around the world, including Israel, where it was planted mainly as an ornamental tree in gardens and yards. So the next time you come across a shiny honey-colored amber stone, remember that it is not just any rock, but ancient resin from a coniferous tree.