GEMSTONES & MINERALS
Wholesale minerals, crystals, gemstones & fossils

Copal amber is derived from solidified resins originally secreted by certain species of tropical tree. It is an organic gemstone and its exact chemical make up is highly variable. Copal amber has no discernable crystal structure.

Copal amber will melt at temperature slightly below 150 degree celcius which means that it is even more sensitive to temperature than true amber which melts at 200 degrees.

Copal amber is mainly yellow but may also be orange or red in colour. Its name is derived from copalli the Nahuatl word for "resin", (Nahuatl is an old central American language of the Aztecan family).

Copal is the general term used by geologists to  describe resinous materials secreted from the Brazilian copal, a species of tropical tree.

There are 2 varieties of the copal tree. One, Trachylobrium verrucosum, is found Mainly in East Africa, Zanzibar and Madagascar. It appears in fossilised form on land which, although thickly forested in pre-historic times, now has practically no trees at all.

Although copal amber must, by definition, be solid, resins are also extracted in resin form from the roots of living tree. This form - widely know as jackass copal - is widely used in India and China to make varnish.

Despite its beauty, the uses of copal amber in the making of jewellery and ornamentation are strictly limited by its softness (only 2 - 2.5 on the Mohs Scale of Hardness) However the finest pieces are sometimes fashioned into smooth domed cabochons.

Gem quality copal is derived from trees which lived approximately 750 000 years ago. By contrast, true or Baltic amber is about 20 million years old.