The company
Pictures
Brochure
Learn about amber
Links
Tax-Free shopping


Professionel workshop & sales
all year round

Højers
Rav-sliberi
Højtvedvej 7
9800 Mygdel.
Tlf.: + 45 98 97 52 23

Open all year.
Monday-friday. 10 Am-17 Pm

E-Mail

RAV Amber Bernstein Barnsteen AMBRA AMBRE

Learn about amber
Where and when do I find amber at the beach ?



Back

Caracteristics of amber:
(Compared with stones:)
  1. Leight: Only weighs 1/3 of a stone .
  2. Deep tone: Click it gently against your teeth. It sounds hollow.
  3. Warm: Stones always seem colder than amber. Amber is a very stromg insulator. That is why it always feels warm to have an amber necklace orund your neck..
  4. Fire test: Amber will burn with a red sooting flame. In German and Swedish you actually say " burning stone" - Bernstein / bärnsten.
  5. Soft: With a knife you may scratch the amber making small chips spring off the amber.That is what differentiates amber from plastic. From plast you may cut long splinters. A stone cannot be scrached by a knife.
(Compared with lacquer and plastic..)
  1. Does not crumble: Lacquer will crumble away like suggar if you scratch it with a fingernail. Amber is resistant to finger nails
  2. Not plastic: Plastic may often be twisted or you may make an impression in it with your finger nails. Amber is not plastic.
  3. A scent of resin : When you are burning amber it smells like rubber but if you only warm it lightly it has a lovely sweet scent of resin. It is actually used as frankincense. Plastic and lacquer stinks synthetic when heated.

Where do I find amber ?
(In the fields:)

    In the stone age big parts of Denmark were cover by the sea. Actually Vendsyssel consisted of a lot of islands. Since then Vendsyssel has elevated many yards.So this is why this area has so much amber in the fields N.B. You are not allowed to look for amber in the fields. All the amber belongs to the farmer and his family. Seconly you trample on his crops. Would you like other people to pick the flowers in your garden.
(On the beach:)
    The beach is public property in Denmark.Anyone finding a piece of amber if it is not treasure trove ( meaning the property of dead people), and that is not the case of raw amber.
  1. The daily high water line: D.v.s. øverst oppe på den skrå kant lige før vandet .
  2. Seaweeds and shells: RThe waves washe the amber up the shore and it must be cought by seaweeds or shells not to be drawn out again with the next wave.
  3. Amber coals: i.e large amounts of black, small water soaked pieces of wood from the Ice Age with the same specific gravity as amber. They are visible from a long distance. That is why some people can find amber from their car. They do not see the amber. They simply know where to stop and look for it.
  4. The gulls: will show you the way. They hunt for food in that very same places where you ought to be looking for amber.
  5. Not high up on the beach. The amber rarely is found that far away from the water. The electric bulss and cans are found there-not amber.

When do I find amber ?
  1. Early in the morning, before the others wake up. At noon there is also amber but a lot more people looking for it.
  2. Off-shore wind is the best. The surface water is blown out and thus an on-shore undercurrent can bring the amber in. The very best weather is a storm from the sea ( it is always the stronger wind)that turns off-shore an calm down.Then your chances are optimized very much.
  3. Head wind. If you choose to follow the wind out it will feel as if you have the double ditance home in head wind.
  4. Winter. The colder the water is the greater is its buoyancy At the same time yor chances of finding amber is growing because there are only few peolpe at the beach in the cold period. So may consider to make your next holliday in December-March