I am interested in any information I can find about amber and how to locate good sources of amber from the Kaliningrad area. Is there central source (factory etc) and where do stores get quality necklaces

it really doesnt matter where you buy your amber from all that matters is that it is real and you like it-- as far as the real goes you can tell yourself if it is real or not by scratching the back of the stone and it smells like amber which by the way you will be able to tell immediately just thought you might like to know we were in russia two years ago and got a lesson in the amber stone before i went

Thank you. I have tried scratching pieces of amber that I have (I also scratched one beautiful piece - that I grossly opverpaid for - from Harrods <BR>(in London)and I smell nothing! I keep seeing offers on E-Bay and Amazon at prices that are so low they cannot be real. I have some pieces arriving next week, from Riga, and I'll scratch these too. Can you give me an idea of whatthe smell is like.Also do you have a range of prices for say necklaces (size is important too) <BR> <BR>Thanks

Besides Kaliningrad - You also may want to check Poland (Gdansk,Gdynia,Sopot) few miles west from Kaliningrad. <BR>do search for "bursztyn" = Amber. <BR>here are some sites I found with quick search: <BR> <BR>http://www.abamber.com.pl/ <BR>http://www.klechowicz.com.pl/ <BR>http://www.softel.gda.pl/dejwis/main.html <BR>Advantage: You should have no problem getting your order using credit card and English as well as quick shipping. Disadvantage prices maybe slightly higher then Kaliningrad (which I think are the lowest you can get). Problem is locating one, and then trusting that company to really ship you the goods on pre-paid money transfers.

hi peter sorry about your disappointing results - however to reply to what it should smell like the only thing i can liken the smell to is somthing like bayberry and euqulipus(sp) but not very strong smell just something like and when we were in russia i did smell that smell in the amber room in the winter palace sooo i guess youll just have to take a trip to russia to find out exactly poor boy just kidding have a happy holiday regard dorothy