Quick note from Amberif 2006
By John Fudala
The amber fair Amberif 2006 is over but will be hard to forget! 477 exhibitors on 9000sq meters -- next year a new hall will be added to house this ever growing event. So many great jewellery designs, old and new friends too!... I don't know where to begin... how about with events accompanying Amberif:
- First the Banquet welcoming the Buyers at the Hevelius hotel. Hundreds of people, tables overflowing with fish and cold cuts hors d'oeuvres, white and red wine, vodka! Later, the chefs carving roast duck and serving other hot dishes. After the official part, the dance floor was crowded till the wee hours to the sounds of live music. All along with the spirits served by waiters. Too much to talk about, too much to remember!
- Similiar event was held by the Gdansk Amber Center at the Manhattan Mall. Exqusite hors d'oeuvres, chefs carving salt crust baked fish, whole roasted pig, birds. All you want red and white wine, drinks. Exciting fashion show, jewellery collections presented by the Centre's merchants! Interesting discussions afterwards.
- The Grand event -- Amber and Fashion Gala Show at the Baltic Opera. First, some wine and pieces of fruit (on 3" silver skewers encrusted with amber stones -- yours to keep) served by beautiful waitresses. More, with some speeches and presentations before the show as well as during the intermission. The show: awesome high tech play of light, music, gorgeous models with daring jewellery and clothing made especially for that night, an extraordinary adventure accented by the living stone: natural Baltic amber.
The Amberif itself dazzled with tons of amber everywhere you looked -- I must say, too much to digest at once. Having the press credentials, I think I took over 900 pictures...
The copal issue will be with us I guess. There is work already being done on two portable methods of resin identification. Some copal -- being hardened and altered in many procedures -- is indistinguishable from amber products . It becomes as hard as amber, any color that amber can be enhanced to, copal can receive too, including the spangles etc.
An exhibit of Andy Ng's amber from Sabah, Borneo was a source of constant uuuu's and aaaa's as there was one gorgeous 5 kilo orange piece shown along with other colors! (By the way, I understand that "resinite" is a fossil resin associated with coal deposits - Sarawak amber is - Sabah pieces are found in soils, not coal, so it might be retinite but not resinite!). Some pieces tested matched amber from Sarawak perfectly, some gave close, but incomplete match. Unfortunately the print house messed up and the article about it that I co-wrote with Prof. Kosmowska-Ceranowicz appeared with black and white pictures of all the specimens instead the ordered color pictures... The only good thing about it will be that it will be reprinted for free in few months for the Ambermart edition of the International Amber Association's "Bursztynisko" newsletter which will let us test it some more, as well as edit the "resinite" mistake!
My favorite designs are by Dorota Kos -- again! Her modern and aesthetically pleasing simple designs in wood and amber are so beautiful in my opinion. I was able to obtain one of two pendants made of black oak and amber -- the oak being from archaeological dig in Gdansk near the Mariacki church and dated precisely to year 1365! The other pendant will go to the Historical Museum of Gdansk whose Amber department already has several of her pieces. I also have her own business card holder made of wallnut and amber -- it was not easy to change her mind, but I just had to have it! Also sculpture art with amber used in it was very special, here only the pictures can explain.
Most special was exhibition of smoking pipes from collection of Alexander Zhuravlov titled "The gentleman's luxury." He is the man heading the restoration of the famous Amber Room. What a nice man, so knowledgeable! He also spoke of the pipe collection during the annual science seminars -- easily the most entertaining presentation! Not to mention how awesome were the 18 and 19 century pipes, hand made of sea foam stone and amber and carefully restored by him over many years.
Kazimieras Mizgirilis (Amber Man of the Year award during Amberif 2001) shared with us his new book "Mysterious Amber World" with unique and beautiful pictures by him and the text in German and English by none other but Dr. Wolfgang Weitschat! I have a copy with signatures of both authors! As this is private edition, no ISBN number, it will never be sold through stores -- I obtained 10 copies to sell to friends in the States but... at the end of Amberif I only had two books left!
Dr Krumbiegel and Mrs. Krumbiegel presented me with an autographed copy of their book: "Bernstein, Fossile Harze aus aller Welt" -- the next edition will have few pictures taken by me during the yearly ambersafaris in North America...
I also have a beautiful calendar "hand made" by Christel Hoffeins with actual photographs attached to illustrate every month. They are of unique amber pieces, art pieces or inclusions bought, collected or described by her. Truly unique and beautiful!
What else? A! I also have a hand bound book, illustrated with actual photographs attached: "Bitterfeld III." It is a third, improved and enlarged version documenting the history of the Bitterfeld mine -- unbelievable pictures of amber, the mounds of it, the record pieces and the science associated with it. The Hoffeinses are not the only contributors to this book, but I have a permission to copy it -- the original will be returned. Last year I photographed the second edition -- unfortunately, I lost all the data...
John Fudala lives in Northbrook, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. He is a collector of fossil resins from all over the World. His collection can be viewed at The Museum of The Earth (PAN) in Warsaw, as well as at Museum of Amber Inclusions at the Univeristy of Gdansk, Poland. He is a member of the International Amber Association.
