Vintage Faturan Amber - History and Properties

Vintage Faturan Amber - History and Properties

Faturan, or faturan amber is an amberoid, namely a synthetic material imitating amber, invented in the late 1700's by the Egyptian chemist Faturan.

The main reason for this invention, as with other materials imitating amber, was the scarcity, high price and fragility of the Arabic region amber, reasons that made difficult the use of amber for prayer beads.

The exact composition of this material was and remains unknown, and the mystery surrounding it contributes to the legend created and to the appreciation of this material among collectors.

It is believed that among the ingredients there are powdered amber, mastic resin, frankincense, turpentine, natural dyes, such as wine, and phenol resin, a component of bakelite.

Faturan was a favourite material for prayer and worry beads mainly in Egypt, Turkey and Greece. Its production stopped in 1940, due to World War II and the original formula has not been reproduced ever since. This is reason that this material is today hard to find and collectible.

Posted on 2017-07-27 Antique & Vintage Materials

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