Amber and Marcasite Matching Jewelry Set

• Amber - More frequently used to refer to the colour, than the material from which the word is derived, amber is the fossilized resin from ancient forests. It is not produced from tree sap, but rather from plant resin. The resin is aromatic, and can drip from and ooze down trees. In colour, it may be a deep honey colour, (amber), brown, or white. As it oozes out it fills internal fissures in the tree, trapping debris such as seeds, leaves, feathers and insects. The debris trapped within the amber can assist in dating the deposit.
  
  In its natural state it is found in rocks, on the sea floor (from where it may be washed up to the shore) and mined, using both open cut and underground techniques. About 90% of the world's amber comes from Russia. Amber has recently been discovered at Cape York in Northern Australia
  
  Amber is often incorporated in jewellery, and used in pipe stems. The shine on the surface of amber becomes even more intense when it is worn and used regularly. Genuine amber, when rubbed, will release a slightly musky scent.
• Sterling Silver - Sterling silver is a mixture of 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% of another metal, usually copper. Fine silver is 99.9% pure silver, and is relatively soft and the addition of the very small amount of copper gives the metal enough strength and hardness to be worked into jewellery, decorative and household objects.
• Cabochon Cut in Jewellery - A cabochon cut is a type of gemstone cutting where the stone is cut and polished in a convex shape with a flat bottom and a domed top, with no facets. This type of cut is typically used for opaque or translucent stones that have natural patterns or inclusions that are best displayed in this type of cut. Examples of stones that are often cut as cabochons include turquoise, opal, and moonstone.
• Marcasite - Marcasite is a mineral, iron sulphide, but is rarely used in jewellery. Instead marcasite is the name given to iron pyrites, the mineral sold as marcasite which is identical in copmosition to iron sulphide but crystalises as a cube, making it more suitable for jewellery. It is a brassy yellow in colour and is also known as "fool's gold", and sits well with silver rather than gold becasue of its colour.
  
  Marcasite has been used in jewellery since ancient times and became popular again in jewellery in the 18th century, continuing through to the early 20th century, with the settings becoming cheaper as time progressed, eventually earning the sobriquet "costume jewellery" along with other cheap jewellery that was made for a prevailing pattern and meant to be changed with each new outfit.

This item has been included into following indexes:

• lockets - silver items 2,510
• pendants and lockets, set with
  • amber 154
  • marcasite 64
• pendants and lockets, silver - silver items 2,510