Blue Amber

Blue amber has been most commonly found in the Dominican Republic, especially in the amber mines around the city of Santiago and, less commonly, in the eastern half of the country. Blue amber is reportedly found mostly in the Palo Quemado mine, south of La Cumbre. This variety comes from the resin of the extinct tree species Hymenaea protera. Baltic amber does not show this phenomenon, because its original resin is not from the Hymenaea protera tree.

Under artificial light, the amber appears like ordinary amber, but under sunlight it has an intense fluorescent blue glow. The greenish blue color seen in some amber from the Dominican Republic and Indonesia is fluorescence stimulated by ultraviolet light. The material completely absorbs light in the UV range and strongly absorbs light in the short-wave visible range, so the stimulated blue color is confined exclusively to the surface. The bodycolor of the amber appears orangy yellow to brown in the thicker area.

While all types of amber tested displayed a fluorescence, blue amber fluoresced with a greater intensity. Blue amber from the Dominican Republic generally emits much stronger fluorescence than blue amber from Mexico and Myanmar. The fluorescent hydrocarbon responsible for the blueness is most likely perylene, but its presence has not been confirmed in samples of blue amber. Perylene is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon with the chemical formula C₂₀H₁₂, occurring as a brown solid. The exact fluorescing agent has still not been extracted, and its structure has not been determined.

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Related: Amberwood · Andiroba · Bakhoor · Balsamic Notes · Benzoin Resinoid · Benzyl Benzoate · Benzyl Salicylate · Birch Tar