DARIUSZ ZARANSKI

Presently serving as a museum, Poland’s Wawel Royal Castle is a centuries-old remnant of complex political intrigue and stunning architecture. Poland is also home to featured jewelry designer Dariusz Zaranski.


To say that the beautiful variations of amber resin hold the building blocks of life is not quoting science fiction.

According to AmberJewelry.com, to my surprise the resin is not the accumulation of sap from trees but rather the trees’ vascular tissue that carries the sap.

Millions of years ago, in what is presently central and northern Europe, the tissue oozed down the length of trees in the “amber forest” due to increasing temperatures. Thus, for millennia the DNA of the trees, as well as encapsulated small animals and insects caught in the flow of vascular tissue, remained in pristine safeguarding.

The various colors of amber resin, including butterscotch, cognac, cherry and green amber is believed to be caused by the species of tree that are collectively known as Pinus Succinifera.

Over the centuries, amber jewelry became a popular commodity adorning Roman dignitaries, and was a central component of Christian rosaries in Gdansk, Poland. Today such Polish jewelry artists as Beata Dziegielewski of AmberBeata, and Zaranski both bring a fresh, contemporary visual language to this truly unique gemstone.

Zaranski’s company, New Age Amber Design, aptly describes his stylish, modern jewelry items consisting of amber rings, amber bracelets, and amber earrings.

A seasoned artist, Zaranski has exhibited his elegant amber and silver jewelry in galleries and museums around the world. His aesthetic highlights clean, metallic outlines accented with distinctive colors of amber resin.

His rings and pendant necklaces feature the smooth facets of what appears to be a hybrid amber mixture of black and yellow with flecks of red.

There are two brooches that appear to hold a really beautiful mixture of cognac and butterscotch amber with black flecks and lines. One of his jewelry sets features oblong facets of yellow amber with black, horizontal lines that resemble a bumble bee.

“I have been designing and producing unique amber and silver jewelry for more than thirty years.

The cornerstones of my work are simplicity of shape, great care for detail, and clarity of forms.”
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Photo 1 (top right): Amber Jewelry Items
Photo 2 (bottom left): Amber Pendant Necklaces