Note. The following Monday, 13.VI.2011 in the Boruni Gallery in  60 Grodzka Street an "Amber Day " will take place.

The demonstration of grinding and processing of amber for individuals
will be seen in our gallery between 11 am and 1 pm.

 

We regret to announce that on 31.V.2011 our
flagship store, located on 22 Kanoniczna Street in Krakow, has been closed.

All of our customers are welcome to visit our other stores:

* 60 GRODZKA ST.

* SUKIENNICE - STALL 23, 29, 36

* RADISSON BLU HOTEL - 17 STRASZEWSKIEGO ST.

* CROWN PIAST HOTEL & PARK - 109 RADZIKOWSKIEGO ST.

A spider from the Lycosidae family, in Baltic amber, with a praying mantis sitting on its back.

                                                                                              Photo: Michael Ohl, MfN

A scientist from the Natural History Museum (Museum für Naturkunde) in Berlin has discovered a Praying Mantis larva, which lives on spider eggs and larvae and sits on the back of a spider making a cocoon.

The discovery is unique, not only because it is the first larva of praying mantis in amber, but also because it is direct evidence for the existence of this survival strategy back 44 million years ago. Praying mantis belongs to the net-winged group (Neuroptera). Their larvae live exclusively on spider eggs and larvae. they lurk on the spider's back in order to penetrate its cocoon, where they develop and eat its entire content.

Anna Sado is a trade journalist who specialises in amber and jewellery topics. She began gathering her experience through developing Zegarki & Biżuteria (Watches and Jewellery) monthly as the editorial secretary and later, between 1999 and 2004, as the editor-in-chief. Since 2001, she has been a correspondent for Goldschmiede Zeitung trade monthly, with her articles on the Polish jewellery, goldsmithing and amber scene also to be found in international quarterlies: World One and the now discontinued GZ Art+Design. She puts a special emphasis on topics related to amber – a jewellery material which is typical of and associated with Poland. Anna Sado is the only Polish journalist who presents the contemporary, new face of the jewellery and amber industry to Western-European media not only in commercial but also in artistic terms.

Since 2007, Anna Sado has been co-developing the amber.com.pl Amber Portal, making sure that its content is of high quality, chiefly by working with experts from the worlds of science and museums and with trade specialists. As a foreign press correspondent, and most of all as the editor of the amber.com.pl web portal, Ms Sado is present at numerous important amber events which she reports on with journalistic objectivism and credibility. Her mode of writing, in straightforward language, makes the information accessible also to non-trade readers and enlarges the group of amber enthusiasts. Among the 775 articles available at amber.com.pl, as many as 466 were written by Anna Sado.

The articles published at the amber.com.pl Amber Portal are not just a typical internet dispatch with many pictures but an in-depth analysis with a variety of references. They are not some pop-culture pulp to look at but journalism of a high standard. The portal's immense contribution to both amber and amber industry's promotion in its broadest sense was appreciated last year – at the Amberif Amber and Fashion Gala, where editor Anna Sado and amber.com.pl owner Tomasz Mikołajczyk received the Mayor of Gdańsk Medal.

In the Award Committee's opinion, Anna Sado deserves the special distinction of The Amber Personality of the Year 2010 for her long-standing contribution to amber promotion.

Marcin Wesołowski is the owner of NAC Amber brand. He argues that development and success can be achieved even in difficult times.

"The difficult situation on the market forces us to work even more intensely, to look at the wider picture and to set long-term goals and verify them on the basis of the constantly changing market situation. My company's aims are based primarily on quality and patterns which we implement in a slightly different way than what seems to be the norm in the industry. Thus, three years ago we replaced price per gram with price per product. We are convinced that it is impossible to think about patterns creatively when you are restricted by a need to keep a certain proportion of silver to amber, in order to make the production profitable.

Another issue, which is of vital importance to us, is quality which we treat very seriously. To such an extent that we even happened to recall and improve, at our expense, a product when we got the first signals that there is something wrong with it. We contacted all our clients who had bought it...

The client will appreciate the fact that he wasn't left to deal with the problem on his own much more than if the producer pretended that there's nothing wrong with the product. A lot of our customers - we and really value that - help us to understand their' needs. We listen very carefully to what they say, pay attention to their reactions, the personnel in our shops are very helpful, as they are the people who have direct contact with the customers. Thanks to that we know what the clients expect from our jewellery and we try to fulfil those expectations while designing our new patterns. At the same time, of course, we care about the quality and details, such as gemstone riveting, which we use in majority of our products. The quality is also a result of the system of work: contrary to many jewellery companies, we don't pay our employees per item they produce. We are convinced that working under pressure, both time and the weight of the product, is the enemy of good quality.

We try to "take advantage" of the times difficult for investment - because when, if not during the crisis, is there an opportunity to restructure the company...

We haven't spent our profits so far, we also used the European Union grants that many amber companies applied for. The change into price per item has had many benefits for us - thanks to that we know whether and how much we earn on particular patterns. And this lets us prepare a realistic development strategy, knowing what our financial possibilities, clients and potential are... I would like to be crystal clear here: we also feel the impact of the crisis, but we try to work in a way that despite the unfavourable conditions we could develop and survive the difficult years, while building a strong brand of amber jewellery. We believe that our activities will bring measurable effects when the situation on the market will be stable again."