When a piece of amber first comes into our workshop, it may look very different from the amber you later see in a finished piece of jewelry.

The natural surface can be matte, rough, dark, or uneven. Color, transparency, plant material, bubbles, and other structures may still be hidden beneath it.

Working with amber is therefore not simply a matter of deciding on a shape and grinding until we reach it.

We have to discover what is already there.

Sometimes the original idea works exactly as planned. Sometimes the amber reveals something that makes us change direction completely.

That uncertainty is part of the craft.

FROM RAW AMBER TO FINISHED JEWELRY

WHAT LIES BENEATH THE SURFACE?

Raw amber can be surprisingly deceptive.

A piece that looks brown, dull, or almost opaque on the outside may contain clear lemon yellow amber, milky areas, plant material, bubbles, several colors, or an inclusion beneath the surface.

The first grinding is often the moment when we begin to understand the piece.

And sometimes it surprises us.

A color transition may appear where we did not expect one. An interesting structure may be revealed. Or something we thought should be removed turns out to be the most distinctive part of the amber.