An amber necklace that contains 40m-year-old insects will sell at Lawrence's Fine Art auctioneers in the UK on April 23-26.

The necklace comes complete with a chart produced by Glasgow's Hunterian Museum

The magnificent time capsule necklace holds a valuation of £6,000 ($9,216). Each of the 40 beads that make-up the necklace contains a preserved spider, ant or mosquito.

The amber used to compile this fascinating piece, which dates to around 40m years ago, originates from the La Toca mine in the Dominican Republic, with the island nation renowned for its transparent amber that contains a high number of fossils.

The Dominican Republic is famed for its transparent amber, with even blue varieties originating from the island

As well as providing beautiful jewellery, this amber has enabled scientists to establish a detailed reconstruction of the tropical forest that has long since disappeared from the island. The Dominican Republic is also known for its blue amber.

The necklace has been consigned to auction by a private collector, and will be sold along with a chart that describes each insect contained within, which was produced by the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow, UK.

The auction will also feature a selection of lesser amber jewellery, as well as watches and English and Japanese decorative arts.

For those interested in natural history collectibles, Christie's will auction a rare fragment of dodo bone and an elephant bird egg in its April 24 auction.

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