Ah, yes, amber. Its organic yellow, orange and even green luster gives it a novel property all its own, and these properties sets it aside from other precious metals.

This is perhaps why I have a particular love for this ring amber that has been passed down in my folks for some generations now. My mom taught me a way to look after it, as it was passed down our family for around six decades now, and here is what I learned from her:

BE CAREFUL WITH AMBER! I remember her screaming this to me all the time when I first got the ring amber. I adore flailing my hands around to exaggerate my point, and this allegedly was a major threat to all amber pieces. She explained to me that they may last for years and years, but they are crisp and crack simply. So I had to be extremely careful when wearing the amber, while wrapping the ring in those soft cotton bags designed in particular for holding jewellery.

BE CAREFUL WITH CHEMICALS! This was another line I often had screamed into my face when I was younger. That was the time I wasn’t aware of the way to take care of jewellery, so the first thing she did was let me that amber and each other sort of jewellery out there does not react well with chemicals like makeup and soap.

USE OLIVE OIL! Okay, so she didn’t scream this one in my ears, but she did stress on employing a small olive oil to bring back luster. A single drop on the ring, a few wipes with a cotton or flannel pad, and I saw that old family ring amber shine like the day it was made.