The Ancient Beauty of Rumanite ~ Romanian Amber

I've always loved amber and I was very happy when my wonderful Mom and my lovely Sis, who sent me a whole bunch of very old, awesome things from Romania, included the gorgeous amber chips that I have used in the ring and the pair of earrings below. 

The Magic Tears of Ancient Forests

And because I am always curious about everything, I decided to do a quick research on Romanian amber.

Hand forged copper ring, natural patina...

Romanian amber, or Rumanite, has an ancient history similar to that of Baltic Amber. It is known for its beautiful and varied colors, especially deep red and deep blue with green hues which are uncommon  natural colors for amber. Mine look like liquid sunsets in tones of orange and honey.

...two-tone Rumanite soldered on copper wire.

Difficult to obtain at present, most of the Romanian amber originates from the locality of Colti.

It has been recovered from two distinct geological formations:Cretaceous and Tertiary (Eocene-Oligocene) , millions of years ago, when forests thrived and our world looked kinda like this... both images are in the Public Domain. Reference: LIFE IN AMBER by George Poinar Jr.

 

Amber from the Carpathians is said to have been used in Neolithic times by the Dacians and later by the Romans.There are many myths surrounding the origin of amber. In Greek mythology, Ovid wrote about Phaethon, who convinced his father Helios, the Sun God, to allow him to drive the chariot of the sun across the sky for a day. He drove too close to the earth, setting it on fire. To save the earth, Zeus struck Phaethon out of the sky with his thunderbolts, plunging him into the sea. His sisters (the Heliades, the daughters of Helios, the Sun), turned into poplar trees on the bank of the Eridanus River,

Where sorrowing they weep into the stream forever...And each tear as it falls shines in the water a glistening drop of amber.

My two favorites, Rumanite and Opals, in oxidized brass frames that have been hammered and textured by hand.
"Before and after" applying the texture on the surface of the brass.

Liquid Sunshine

Still working on these earrings, I feel like they're still missing something.
 My inner critic is not quite happy with them yet. :)

You can read more about amber HERE. I hope you enjoyed it!

See you soon! 

Laura xoxo