Amber is a living gem; and has been revered by humanity for thousands of years as a protective, healing, and decorative material; and was once believed by ancient man to be the tears of the sun. Chiapas Amber is fossilized tree resin from the now extinct tree species, Hymanea Mexicana. What we know is that it formed some 23-30 million years ago during the Oligocene Era. These giant trees were subject to damage via forest fires, hurricanes, earthquakes, and other means, releasing copious amounts of resin from their trunks and branches. This resin is differentiated from tree sap. Sap is the watery substance which transports nutrients through a tree. Resin on the other hand, is the sticky goo that is exuded when the tree is damaged, and acts to protect and heal it.  Insects, flowers, leaves, and sometimes frogs, crabs, and lizards were inevitably trapped in the sticky substance that flowed from the trees. Sometimes pieces of resin would fall to the ground, encasing other plants and animals. Through centuries of floods, tectonic shifts, and other environmental events, these trees and resin were eventually transported to the shallow ocean, where the resin hardened through the process of polymerization. Oysters, barnacles and other mollusks grew on its surface, and eventually the resin was buried under ocean sediments. Over millions of years, with constant heat and pressure, the resin hardened into copal, (which is a premature form of amber.) As the volatile organic chemicals left the structure of the copal,  it eventually transformed into the true amber we know today. When polished by human hands to a high clarity, a mirror into the far distant past is revealed: ancient creatures long extinct and a stunning, fascinating, work of natural art that resembles otherworldly landscapes of ancient planets and the imagination.

Eventually, it gained value among modern cultures as well who now demand this amber both for its beauty and rare inclusions. In 1953, a Dutch archaeologist named Frans Blom discovered the deposits of Chiapas, soon after bringing a group of scientists from U.C. Berkeley to study the amber deposits.

It is estimated that approximately 95% of the amber market has been dominated by Baltic amber from Poland, Ukraine, and other northern European countries.  Baltic amber was originally found along the coast of the Baltic sea, but is now often mined via stripping vegetation from large swaths of land followed by large open pit mines in order to meet demand.

Chiapas amber is slightly younger than Baltic amber, being Oligocene in age vs the Eocene Baltic deposits. Surprisingly, Chiapas amber is significantly harder than Baltic amber, meaning it is much less likely to scratch, crack, chip, or shatter. Chiapas amber is also much more fluorescent and phosphorescent than Baltic Amber. Lastly, Chiapas amber comes in a variety of natural colors such as greens, reds, honey, cognac, etc. Whereas Baltic amber must be heat treated to achieve this same variety of colors.