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All you need to know about searching and polishing Amber
However if we look at the next two pictures again with the copal on the left , we can see that as in many cases with copal and amber it develops a skin and and is very difficult to see through. The Dominican amber on the right has a slight skin and the colour is very dark which again prevents us from seeing inclusions.
As you can see from the pictures below with the copal on the left and the amber on the right, it is easy to spot any inclusion due to the colour and translucent quality of these pieces.
The easiest way I have found to help with the search is to put the amber and copal in a container of water and use a soft brush to wash over the surface. This takes away any fine dust left on the amber and copal and as you can see from the pictures below with the amber and especially with the copal it makes the surface alot more translucent and makes searching easier.
When searching amber or copal, make sure you search even the small pieces. The pictures below show two pieces of copal, the picture on the left is a piece of copal which measures 95mm x 70mm and has no inclusions. The piece of copal on the right measures 32mm x 15 and has a beetle measuring 15mm in it.
