A substantial amount of the world’s amber comes from the DR. Formed over millions upon millions of years (we’re talking anywhere from 30-80 million), Dominican amber is among the purest and most widely sought due to its translucent quality, making it one of the most valuable in the world. Regarding commercial availability, Dominican amber is second only to that from the Baltic region of Europe.
Amber is an organic gemstone made from tree resin, then preserved for millions of years and turned into stone.
While amber is not a mineral, it is widely considered to be a gemstone–in fact, it’s one of the few non-mineral gemstones allowed to be called such. Even prehistoric people valued it; it is believed that amber was one of the first substances used for ornamentation. To this day, amber is a highly sought jewelry material. It is called amber because of its golden color. The gemstone can come in many colors, from yellow to orange to red, to syrupy brown, to blues and blacks. The more rare the color, the more valuable the stone.
An “inclusion”–the suspension of a tiny fossilized animal in the nugget–also adds value to amber. Though rare, the preserved bodies of flies, ants, small termites, or beetles are occasionally found embedded in the amber. Most difficult to find, and therefore the most valuable, are inclusions of large spiders, scorpions, and even small frogs and lizards. Contrary to the ideas made famous in the film Jurassic Park, mosquitoes are an uncommon find.
How to tell if amber is real
Real amber will fluoresce under UV light. The amount of fluorescence varies from piece to piece. In a dark space, shine a UV black light on the samples in question, and if it is authentic amber it will fluoresce a bright blue or yellow green.

