Customer Reviews

Amber: The Golden Gem of the Ages

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Patty C. Rice brings a passionate love for her subject to this wonderful book. She offers a very comprehensive study of this beloved gemstone, from a detailed account of its long history, to the folklore surrounding it, to a thorough study of its scientific properties.She explores the many sources of amber worldwide, and gives an exhaustive study of the amazing variety of amber. Most helpful to a collector, she explains in detail how genuine amber differs from its imitations, and how you can perform simple tests to determine if yours is authentic.The mechanics of working with amber as a lapidary or jewelry- maker are also discussed. I loved the wealth of gorgeous photos, many of them from Dr. Rice's own impressive personal collection from all over the world. Her book does full justice to the beauty and enduring fascination of amber, and if you love it as much as I do, her book is a must-have.

If you have any book on amber in your possession, this is the one to have. Amongst amber aficionados, this is considered to be the "Bible". The chapter on differentiating between real amber and the vast number of fakes is vital for those that collect this wonderful gem. If you have the opportunity to get a copy of this book, don't hesitate!

I agree with everything the other two reviewers of this book have said so far; that said, the book has a fairly serious problem.

Every photo within its covers is in rather grainy black and white.

This isn't a problem when the image is of something like a map, but of course as this is a book about amber, it's a serious shortcoming in the vast majority of images of amber within it.

The author will want to make a point about the coloration of an amber piece and provides a photo with a description underneath - the photo, in black and white, cannot illustrate the point at all. "Notice surface crazing," might be another caption for a different picture, and the stalwart reader peers at the inevitably black and white photo only to be thwarted by its sheer graininess; one can see no crazing through the graininess of the pic provided.

I have just opened to a page at random: p.229 Figure 6.14 "Baltic amber coated with barnicals[sic]" If the subtext didn't inform the reader that the lighter splotches in the image were barnacles, the reader would have no idea what they were based on the image alone and, in fact, would have no idea there was anything at all adhering to what appears to be merely an unpolished chunk of raw amber.

All of this taken into consideration, I ding the book one star. I still consider this book invaluable for any diehard lover of amber and would recommend it regardless.