Why was amber relevant in a mourning context?

Black dominated Western European mourning jewellery; amber was a secondary material there. In Eastern and Central Europe - above all in Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, East Prussia and parts of the German-speaking lands - amber was by contrast regarded as a legitimate material for mourning jewellery, particularly for the second phase of mourning (half-mourning). Its honey to red-brown tone matched the muted range of colours permitted in this phase. Amber also carried its own symbolic charge as a preserving material - insects and plant remains in amber were preserved for millions of years, which was read as a metaphor for eternal remembrance.

How can amber be distinguished from synthetic-resin imitations?

There are several genuine tests. Salt-water test: real amber floats in heavily saturated salt water (density 1.05–1.10 g/cm³). Friction test: real amber becomes electrostatically charged and attracts small pieces of paper. UV light: real amber fluoresces blue-green, synthetic resin mostly not, or differently. Burn test: real amber smells aromatically resinous when warmed (not advisable on a piece of jewellery!). In the 19th century many imitations circulated, made of copal (younger, softer resin), phenol-formaldehyde resins and even pressed amber dust.

Can ashes be enclosed in amber?

Not in genuine fossil amber - it is already fossilised and can no longer be given new inclusions. There are, however, casting-in techniques using modern amber-like resins (epoxy or acrylic resin, often with amber colouring), into which a pinch of ashes or hair is cast. Such pieces are sometimes marketed as "amber-look ash jewellery" - technically speaking they are not amber but modern synthetic resin. Individual Polish and Lithuanian workshops combine historical amber jewellery with an ash capsule behind the amber cabochon.

Amber

Amber - fossilised tree resin, above all from the Baltic region - was worked in the 19th century as a light brown or reddish alternative to black Whitby jet and is today the bearer of its own East-Central and Eastern European mourning jewellery tradition, with casting-in techniques for modern memorial substances.

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