[ Oct.2015 ] Gdansk in Poland is famous for “Solidarity”, but there is another famous thing in this city.
That is amber.
I am not 100% sure, but I think I heard that here, it is the top of the world for amber processing.
This city has flourished since the time of the Hanseatic League by trading in amber.
We saw some gorgeous cabinets made of amber from Gdansk in the treasure chamber in the palace in Dresden this summer.
My purpose of this holiday is amber, too.
The shop owner we met was chairman of the Amber Chamber of Commerce and he told us some things about amber.
Firstly, the recent trend of the price.
The price of the rough stones went up by 60% in the last 5 years and the accessories went up about 45%.
Chinese people’s strong desire for buying them is the reason.
I had heard that milk white amber was older than the rest, but in fact that is a lie.
Apparently, the whitish one contains more air.
Amber floats in salty water, but the white one floats even in fresh water.
He showed that to us.
Also, we learned that scarlet amber is made by heating up the black one, and the greenish one is made by painting the back of the stone in black.
In Poland, they believe that you become richer by keeping the rough amber stone in your wallet.
Our walking tour guide, Magda, said that she has one in her wallet, too.
