Our spring gift is here!
A $22.50 value, yours free with any $75.00 purchase while supplies last.
Cognac colored amber paired with sterling silver in a fluttery petite marquise dangle earring which carries you into spring with style.
–DK Collection: Amber & Wood
-Extra 15% Off Coupon Code expires Tuesday
-Interview with amber artist Dorota Kos posted to The Amber Reading Room
-IIA certificate & amber care literature now included with every order
Greetings from
Andzia's Amber Jewelry!
"Team Amberjewelry"
The 15% Off sale ends Tuesday at midnight. Code {deleted- to be the first to get future news & promotional offers, please subscribe to Amberjewelry.com's newsletter
We are pleased to present to you a brand new selection of our Chopin Collection, inspired by Poland's beloved composer Frederic Chopin.
Modeled on traditional forms & materials, yet using innovations
within that classic structure, these selections speak of a time & a
place as much at home in the 21st century as in the 19th. 
(Please note: the free stud earring gift with purchase offer is only valid if it is current on the frontpage of amberjewelry.com when you visit. This graphic will not update here on the blog.)
Each design
in this delightful medley is one of a kind & entirely hand
fabricated from beginning to end. Each draws upon floral motifs such as
the lily & liberal use of flourishes & antique sterling silver
finishes. And although he composed almost exclusively for the piano,
the naturally rich, warm, eye pleasing cognac & cherry amber colors
also remind us of the beautiful color palettes of instruments such as
violins, which were once literally covered in amber, because was once
used as a "lack" or laquer on fine musical stringed instruments.
Chopin Open Work Amber Pendant No. 16
is a thick, dimensional organic shape, as shown. A stunning specimen
because it contains such a perfectly balanced blend of amber
characteristics. Gorgeous exotic color. Polished to perfection.
Translucent areas. Included areas. Fire. An elegant sterling leaf. Some
rough amber spots left intact, creating interest & drama in the
front of the stone. This is a piece of amber to fall into.
This
amber stone is heavily "included", meaning it is studded with fossil
materials, resulting in fascinating patterns created by Mother Nature.
Each amber stone bears her fingerprint. Preserved within the honey
colored amber, the inclusions gleam & sparkle.
The flora
contained inside the amber became trapped in the amber while the resin
was still fresh, millions of years ago, in the ancient forest that once
covered Northern Europe. These inclusions frequently contain hairs or
tiny spores from oak tree buds, but may contain an astonishing array of
other materials.
The reverse is left open, to allow the wearer
to enjoy the warmth of the amber against the skin. The back side of
this amber pendant contains a dimple where some of the amber bark, or
amber skin (the rough amber cortex) is left intact.
A gracious
old world floral motif houses the natural amber drop, lightly antiqued
sterling silver leaves & vines with exquisite detail. This is a
style favored & perfected by the amber masters of the 17th Century
who practiced their craft in the seaside city of Gdansk, Poland, the
world capital of amber. Which is exactly where Chopin Open Work Pendant
No. 16 comes from.
Is there any gemstone more friendly to the artisan's hand than Baltic amber? The versatile beauty of Baltic amber is matched by none as far as we can tell. The gem that seems to come closest in terms of the sheer versatility might be turquoise (but let us know your thoughts too), turned into fabulous jewelry by Native American tribes. But even enchanting turquoise, of the rapturous colors, is not suitable for carving or for shaping in quite the same way as amber is, nor does it share the astonishing array of color that is real amber.
Baltic amber is a mighty chameleon. The sheer variety of amber beads alone that may be produced are awe-inspiring. From the precise hand faceted cuts of Lithuanian amber where this craft has been practiced since ancient times to rough nuggets plucked from the sea's edge & left with the beautiful reddish rough amber skin or bark left intact on the outer cortex...
After beads there are countless natural forms used in earrings, pendants, rings- all the usual jewelry items & amulets. In literally every shape one can imagine. But amber can also be carved into art objects, such as chess pieces & small precious figurines of infinite variety. Then there are cameos- as endless as their possible subjects!
Then there are the colors of amber cognac, cherry, green, light butterscotch, lemon, black, white, speckled, spotted, translucent, opaque... & everything in between! One may even find -very, very rarely- ambers laced with hues of blue or purple.
It also seems that not only amber natur
al, but amber itself seems obsessed with depicting natural forms. Not only the earthy, mysterious lumps, nuggets & geological shapes we expect to discover from raw amber, but a fanciful & seemingly neverending parade of amber animals is constantly expanding. And amber insects such as butterflies & dragonflies, bees & spiders are beloved motifs of amber artisans.
Speaking of amber butterfly jewelry, we have added several new styles, some of which are just now back in stock due to popular demand after being sold out.
But I digress. We really wanted to offer you a special, limited time only discount & a free gift with purchase on some of the amazing new pieces we've just made available. You want butterflies? We got butterflies...
Now through Friday, June 29, 2007 take 10% off any purchase at Amberjewelry.com & if your purchase is over $50, we'll include a pair of our best selling cognac colored amber & sterling silver mini stud earrings.
15% off Sitewide Sale with code ends June 5
plus an extra $10 savings special offer
Two New Collections: Zodiac & Allura
Short Baltic Amber Gemstone Documentary on YouTube!!
Dear Amber Lovers--
The ancients looked to the Milky Way for guidance about events here on Earth. Many people still have an intensely personal relationship with their sign & use it as a tool to gather insight about the world around them & the people they encounter in it. For others, not so much.
But one doesn't have to "believe" in astrology to enjoy the fantastic classical artwork featured on Andzia's new amber horoscope lockets. We are pleased to present for the first time ever all twelve signs of the Zodiac carved into an amber cameo locket using a technique called intaglio.
Actually an intaglio is the opposite of a cameo, or camina. A cameo is a positive form sculpted from material such as a seashell & affixed to a gemstone. Intaglio is just the opposite, a negative form, it is created by carefully removing material from the inside of the translucent amber, making a beautiful hollow form that is smooth along the front, but may be felt from behind. You may view the Zodiac Amber Collection here.
These were specially commissioned by Andzia. This is the first time we have been able to offer all twelve of the astrological signs & as if that weren't wonderful enough, to offer them in a nice, thin rectangle shaped locket. These are limited in quantity. There is a lot to admire in terms of artistry here & one thing we do love about this collection is how wonderfully rendered the figures are, they are not hokey or clumsy, but rather classically inspired in the ancient Greek tradition--truly inspired by the ancient world in an ancient material-- amber.
Continue reading "Allura & Zodiac Amber Jewelry Collections plus Baltic Amber Film on YouTube" »
The Wearin' O the Green
Spotlight on Nature
In this month of darkening daylight we bring to you a luminous collection of new amber jewelry designs tightly focused not just on the inherent natural beauty of amber, but equally focused on amber shaped into forms that reflect oceans, meadows, forests & the creatures- both flora & fauna who inhabit them. Happily, the inventive sterlings silver forms have received just as much attention & nuance.
Some of these designs have a distinct vintage feel, like our Marguerite line, composed of exquisite cognac blossoms with antique colored amber bead centers, each one carved from a single piece of amber by hand, then backed in sleek sterling silver.
Seahorses, fish, leaf motifs, flowers, seashells and our long awaited--& well worth the wait-- amber angels. The Natural World Collection was created by prizewinning amber artists Jadwiga and Bohdan Holub of Gdansk, Poland.
Visit the Natural World Collection
Just exactly how, you may wonder, do angels fit into the natural world- even amber ones? Aren't they considered to be supernatural beings? Andzia considers them to be very much a part of the natural world--just because you can't see them doesn't mean they aren't here with us. Our radiant, shy amber angel is a bit mysterious-her face remains known only to you.
Continue reading "Natural World Amber Jewelry Collection by Andzia's Amber" »
1. Announcing Andzia's New Bohemian Collection
2. Subscribe to our newsletter & get announcements & promo codes by email here
3. The Amber Personality of the Century - Weislaw Gierlowski- Celebrates 80th Birthday
4. Categories Have Changed
5. Starry Nights Earrings now available- Sparkly Nights now in Green Amber also
6. What's Coming Up- Andzia's Secret Stash
7. Congratulations to Two Bella Sweepstakes Winners
8. The Amber Sunflower Intaglios Just Didn't Work Out
Dear Amber Lover,
There's a chill in the air & you know what that means!
It's our mission & honestly our pleasure to hunt the world over for interesting amber jewelry for interesting women. Therefore we are really happy to announce...
1. Our New Bohemian Collection, named after the birthplace of Daniel Swarovski, inventor of the Swarovski crystal. An array of truly modern amber jewelry studded with sparkling Swarovski crystals, briolettes, freshwater pearls, soft gold brushed sterling silver, bedecked with feathers & well... We hope you'll stop by & see for yourself.
This isn't your grandmother's amber jewelry! And we say this with utter reverence in our hearts for Polish grandmothers. :)
The New Bohemian Collection is fun, flirty, a little sexy. It features drops & dangles, hoops & tassels, cacades & clusters. Mostly, it moves when you move. Quantities are limited.
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3. Newly posted to The Amber Reading Room, an article about the life & times of amber expert Wieslaw Gierlowski who celebrated his 80th birthday earlier this year.
Excerpt: "Gierlowski is the man behind the greatest number of books, articles and reports on amber. Mr. Gierlowski is an unquestioned authority, an expert in his field and in many restoration efforts. To describe all the works he had undertaken would require a hefty book. He was the co-founder and the first president of the Management of the Amber Association in Poland. As a world-class expert, he supported the team which reconstructed the Amber Chamber in Tsarskoye Selo near St. Petersburg. He has made and still makes works which find their place in museum exhibitions. In spite of the passage of time, changes in positions and functions, Mr. Gierlowski takes up his work with a youthful fervour and passion."
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4. We'll be launching a completely new site in early 2006 with lots of new capabilities. We're eager to go forward but the last few months of the year aren't the time for us to do it. Meanwhile, our existing categories have changed a bit. But you can still browse by color & type by using the Advanced Search function. By using Advanced Search, you can also search by date added to inventory (most of the New Bohemian Collection was added in October, not November) & also by price.
5. After a lot of back & forth & a few failed prototypes, our Starry Nights earrings are now in stock, available in a sterling lever-back style. Starry Nights has a spinoff as well, Sparkly Nights in gorgeous green amber.
6. We still expect lots of new arrivals before the holidays. You can check some of these out here, in Andzia's Secret Stash. Amber angels are on their way, as well as some lovely leaf designs, vintage flowers, antique roses... even men's cufflinks are on the way.
7. Congratulations to our two most recent Bellaonline Sweepstakes Winners- Allan Schwartz of New Jersey was our March 05 winner, and Dixie in Pennsylvania. Dixie if you're reading this, Bella has not provided us with your contact information so please get in touch. Each will receive a $100.00 gift certificate from Amberjewelry.com.
Our very last Bella Sweeps will close on November 30th- anyone who wishes to may enter here (you may enter daily).
8. About those great Van Gogh amber sunflowers posted in a previous Secret Stash & in blog entry "Divine Design":- about which we've had several emails. They did arrive about ten days ago, but unfortunately we felt the quality of the carvings was not up to snuff. So they will not be available for some time, but we hope to bring them back in early spring.
And- just one more little thing- we've been invited by Count Me In to apply for a joint project between this New York based organization that specializes in working with women entrepreneurs towards economic independence & American Express called "Make Mine A Million!" - a competitive business loan package that involves a lot of mentoring. So, please cross your fingers for us. Because one of the projects we're proposing is that nebulous amber jewelry print catalog we get so many calls & emails about! :)
Although I can't honestly say either of us actually aspires to make a million dollars, we would love to launch Andzia's Amber- the brand. And we'd love it even more if you came along.
Thanks for taking the time to read this message. We really appreciate it. Happy Hunting!
Cordially, Holly & Andzia
Andzia's Amber Jewelry
Well, we can hardly believe it ourselves, but it's that time of year again... Andzia & I just picked up our amber elf costumes from the dry cleaners & we're already polishing our jingle bells...
Every year we feel like we make some strides in the variety & range of amber goods we offer. Amber- & Baltic amber in particular - is a strange animal to start with. The amber industry centered in Gdansk itself is a little self-referential & tends to drag (at times, years) behind the trends.
We're not necessarily crazy about every trend that comes along, but we do get a bit dismayed when - as for example happened this year- producers are excitedly offering turquoise & mixed amber pieces. And part of the problem for us is that it is often just cheap imitation or pretty questionable Chinese turquoise- because we are just evangelical about fair labor practices. It's a point of pride for us that we support an industry that pays fair living wages to its skilled artisans, as is done in Poland & which cannot frankly be said about many mining & jewelry industry sources. (I'll just stop now.)
But, I don't mean to complain because my original point is that design is definitely on an uptick in the world of amber... and we'll be doing our best over the next weeks to spotlight some of these for you.
And, please- don't get me wrong- we love turquoise- In fact, if you're so inclined please visit my good friend Jim at ChacoDog.com where you will find the very best - stress on "very best" - Native American turquoise jewelry collection I can even imagine or dream of... You'll want to wander these galleries for hours & bookmark it.
Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all,
One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
--J.R.R. Tolkien,
"The Lord of the Rings"
Amber & Sterling Silver Evenstar pendant inspired by Lord of the Rings @ amberjewelry.com
They've finally arrived! Of course, these aren't rings, but rather the elfstone worn by Arwen Evenstar "Ondomiel". I've seen official versions (ours are "inspired by ;) " with amethsyt & Swarovski crystals which are beautiful as well. These are comparable in size, but feature Baltic amber of course, & the shape of the amber has been slightly flattened out. Polish sterling silver also contains anti-tarnishing additives, so this jewelry design is sure to stay bright & gleaming, just what you would expect from elves. :)
As a child I was a voracious reader- one of those "reads cereal boxes" kids & spent countless hours happily immersed in Tolkien's tales of Middle Earth, of hobbits, dwarves, the dragon Smaug, curled upon his treasure deep in the Misty Mountains. Of course the elves were always my favorite, especially Galadriel. So we're pretty thrilled to have this piece. It's really a treasure if the trilogy is close to your heart & almost a catnip kind of ecstasy if you also happen to be an amber fan!
We're here! :)
After an uneventful 8 hour night flight (which is all anyone ever wants in a flight, right!?) on Polish LOT Airways, we arrived around noon on Sunday at Lech Walesa International Airport. We then caught a Hello Taxi to the Dom Muzyka. In case you're ever traveling here, there is an extra fee for taxi service on Sundays, as traditionally this is a day of rest- it equates to roughly one third of the normal fare.
We first stayed in this hotel http://www.amuz.dga.pl two years ago & it has undergone stately rennovations & now contains a lovely candlelit restaurant. You would never, ever know it was once a prison.
Large, bright rooms, impeccably clean with the sounds of students practicing their craft drifting through the air at lazy intervals lend a lovely touch to the atmosphere. We definitely recommend staying here- the staff is very helpful & upbeat. All the writing through the building looks Elvish.
They've done an amazing job with the hotel & school- it really deepens one's appreciation for the masterly work of Polish masons & construction workers- who are in demand throughout Europe for the restoration work of many kinds of ancient buildings & churches. Great care & craftsmanship is poured into every detail, down to the pointing on the bricks.
The Academy of Music is just a few short blocks away from the Dlugi Targ 
"Long Market") & Neptune Fountain (we once met an ironworker in Syracuse, NY who worked on the gates surrounding the fountain!) & the world-famous Mariaka Street, lined with amber shops- a bit on the old-fashioned side in terms of style & quite a bit on the expensive side. But if you look you can find a bit of everything here, especially older classical styles with a German flavor.
What you can definitely find here on Mariaka are showstopping amber carvings of all manner of animals, from the whimsical to the realistic- from wild mustangs & stately Polish eagles to delicate spiders & insects.
On our first day, we visited Malbork Castle, historic seat of the Teutonic Knights, about 45 minutes away from Gdansk by train- an immense walled city in & of itself, housing a very special amber collection. In fact we were surprised to realize that we have a very personal connection to this exhibit, because we have a collection of amber art pendants in stock (not online, but we'll put them up- these are called "Picture Pendants") by an amber artist who is prominently featured in this exhibit.
The curious thing to me in visiting the castle was how very empty it felt. And part of this was perhaps due to the lack of English language signage & captioning available at the museum. I don't want to sound "the ugly American" here, but I was quite amused that as we viewed this particular amber collection 
there were other visitors (speaking German) who were being escorted on a paid tour by an English speaking guide, who very pointedly avoided us so we could not listen as he explained the significance of each artefact. We weren't really trying to horn in on them, they were just going through simultaneously but the guide clearly wanted to ditch us. No wonder, hiring a translator for a guided tour is $50.00! :)
You can't expect the museum to provide resources in all the many languages common to Europe, that would be unreasonable. But if you visit, you may want to come prepared by reading about the castle first, or if you're on site, visit one of the many gift shops & have lunch or a snack outside or in the little restaurant (good bigos!) & review a book in your language to help you appreciate the amazing story of the castle. Because it is rather astonishing. It is estimated that 60% of the complex was destroyed in WWII, then lovingly re-created (as so many European cities were) by citizens groups.
Why read up? Aside from the obvious- it helps to know what you're looking at- I felt a strong sense of emptiness in the castle. There is a complete lack of personal & familiar objects here- no real sign of the original inhabitants remains. There are some magnificent artifacts, to be sure- the armour worn by the war horses, for example & some very serious weaponry.
But the emptiness... for some reason, I was really surprised to see large scattered herds of deer sprinkled throughout the countryside on the train back to the city. I just have this idea of Europe as having been so densely populated for so many eons, having survived the Dark & Middle Ages as well the the violence of the last hundred years that there was no room in my mind for so much as a little rabbit to be hopping around, let alone herds of deer. Of course, this is entirely wrong on my part- consider the amazing ecosystem & the deep love of nature held by the Poles & others: Bialowieski National Park
Actually reading the guidebook goes a long way towards explaining that empty feeling. The castle has been swept clean by the tides of history many many times & there is no real lingering sense of the people who once lived & dreamed here- even to view the brushwork & strokes of paint left by specific fingers in specific moments of time in the few murals left decorating the magnificent ceilings feel as if they were left by ghosts.
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Amberif opens tomorrow bright & early, so the the interests of being bright & shiny, that's all for now. -Holly
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Still to come- visits to the Solidarity museum & a return to the Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa later in the week- but Amberif opens tomorrow & we need to be bright eyed & bushy tailed for our big day.
