The Only Amber Factory in the World
Jewelry item made of amber. The Only Amber Factory in the World
The Only Amber Factory in the World
Located in the town of Yantarny (the word yantar means amber in Russian) in Kaliningrad Region, Amber Factory is the biggest in Russia. Baltic amber is a specific subset of amber that is found only in northern Europe. It accounts for some 80% of the known amber in the world. Between 35 and 50 million years ago, sap oozed out from a forest of conifers (probably either false larch or kauri) in the region now covered by the Baltic Sea, and eventually hardened into clear lumps. About 90% of the world’s extractable amber is in the Kaliningrad Region at the Baltic Sea.
The beautiful statue of mermaid welcomes your visit to Yantarny
By the time the Russian army entered Prussia, Germans had stopped extracting amber so they had to restore the pit and build new infrastructure. Thus, in June, 1948, it was put into operation. In 1960, they opened a new pit but due to some projecting mistakes they had to keep on working at the old one even though it was officially closed in 1972.
At first, they dug a 50 to 60 meter deep pit and then began to pan out amber from the botton of the pit. A worker washes off the upper layer of the dead rock with a water-jet which later gets pumped over into the sea. After that, with a drag-line crane, they remove a thin layer of the dead rock which covers blue earth. Finally, the amber ground gets piped to the concentrating mill for further treatment.
At the factory there is a close check after each employee because there were times when workers did not receive their wages and had to steel things from the factory. Now, they are trying to break this bad habit. So, in this room they wash stones…
The Only Amber Factory in the World
One more statue of mermaid meets you in front of the factory
A new pit. It opened in 1976
Opened in 1976 pit
After being washed, stones sorted out depending on their size
At the factory there was a close check of workers to prevent stealing amber
This is an old German pit, now flooded. Its water is really clean and some oligarchs from Moscow have their cottages on its shores
Large stone
The bigger the stone is, the more expensive it costs
The stones cut here
After that, polished stones get sorted out
Everything made manually
To become a part of a beautiful necklace or something. Apart from jewelry, amber is used as an ingredient in perfumes and as a healing agent in folk medicine
Amber bracelets, they say – have medical properties
At the factory, there is a department where artists make amber statuettes
making amber figurines is very laborious
The biggest stones – numbered and priced. This one, for example, has a weight od 2.4 kg and costs 3600 $
Giant stone
Souvenirs of Amber
Amber souvenires
Museum of amber at the factory
Sorted by types amber stones
Ring of Amber
An ant inside Baltic amber
colors of amber
The Amber Room reconstructed from the Kaliningrad amber
They claim this clamshell to be 300 million years old
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