BURMITE JEWELLERY

BURMITE. Burmese Amber, a fossilised tree resin formed in the Cenomanian Age - around 100 million years ago. This stunning material is the fossilised remains of what was once a sticky substance secreted by trees to protect themselves from pests and predators. 

The pieces that we have in this collection evidence the success of of this ancient defence strategy. If you look closely you can see various insects - what look like bugs and wasps and ticks - captured in the amber. Possibly with dinosaur blood in their guts from their final meal!!

A Paleontologist may be able to identify the species of the creatures locked in their golden tombs - we can't, but we can offer you a small window into what lived on Earth around 100 million years ago.

We discovered this ancient material in the Jade Market in Mandalay. The beautiful honey-gold colour and the fascinating organic material suspended in the amber had us hooked, and led Tony, one of our Directors, on a journey to discover further secrets of this unique material. 

Photo above: Amber trader in Mandalay

Tony has developed a passion for the material and has travelled in the region to gather information, and purchase unique pieces. The Burmite that we have is from the Hukawang Valley in the Kachin Province in Northern Myanmar. 

The Chinese have been using Burmite to make jewellery since around 200BCE. They believe that it is a symbol of courage and bravery and that it contains the soul of a tiger. Certainly it has the colours of a tiger's eye and is just as bold and beautiful!

We source this Burmite directly from Myanmar and we select pieces that contain evidence of the material's history. Some of the insects and other interesting materials are barely visible to the naked eye so we endeavour to photograph the mysteries captured in each individual piece.

Our settings are Sterling Silver. They are simple, and designed to highlight each piece to its best effect. 

Primeval ART TO WEAR....