All About Amber Eyes

Amber eyes are quite rare in humans. Only about 5% of people worldwide have amber-colored eyes.  
 
Even though they aren’t as common in the human world, amber eyes are seen in a number of animals. Dogs, cats, fish, wolves, and several types of birds often have golden-colored eyes. 
 
Considered to be one of the most striking eye colors, amber eyes can have a yellow-brown, golden, or copper appearance. And being so uncommon (in people, at least) only makes them more fascinating to look at. 

Genetics and melanin are responsible for all eye colors, including amber.  

When it comes to genetics, you might have a greater chance of having amber eyes if one or both or your parents have them. However, it’s now believed that at least 16 different genes may play a part in determining eye color. This means you can still have amber-colored eyes if your parents don’t (and vice versa). 

Most of the genes associated with eye color are also related to melanin, a pigment in the body that influences your skin, hair, and eye color. The more melanin you have, the darker your hair, skin, and eyes will likely be. The less melanin, the lighter.   
 
Two different kinds of melanin affect the exact shade of your eyes: eumelanin and pheomelanin. Eumelanin is a blackish-brown pigment and pheomelanin is reddish-yellow.  
 
Amber eyes have concentrations of both eumelanin and pheomelanin. But the yellow-ish tone of this eye color means that they likely have a little more pheomelanin in them.  

Sparkling eyes are a trademark in Hollywood, and amber-colored eyes are exceptionally dazzling. Here are some of the stars who love to show off their amber eyes: 

• Jennifer Lopez 
• Nicole Richie 
• Darren Criss 
• Justin Bieber 
• Jennifer Garner 
• Eliza Dushku 

Some lighter shades of brown eyes may look amber-colored, but there’s a difference between the two colors.  
 
Brown eyes are darker than amber because they have more eumelanin (the blackish-brown pigment). Amber eyes have more pheomelanin (the reddish-yellow pigment), so they have more of a yellow tone than you see in brown eyes. 

When choosing the best glasses color for your eye color, there are several things to take into consideration. 
 
Amber eyes fall between brown and yellow on the color scale and tend to have warm or gold tones. Some people may prefer to match the tones in their frames to their eyes, while others may find it more flattering to go with a complementary color (one on the opposite side of the color wheel!). 
 
If you’d like to take the matching approach, we suggest reading glasses frames in the gold, warm tortoiseshell, or copper family. If you’d prefer a complementary color combination, you might want to try a pair of blue frames. Lighter blues complement lighter amber tones, while blue-purple tones go great with darker amber eyes. 
 
At the end of the day, the best readers for you are the ones you like the most! Readers.com has a great selection of reading glasses to make your amber-colored eyes shine, no matter what your style is. 

1. Amber eyes: Rare and striking. All About Vision. February 2021.* 
2. Is eye color determined by genetics? MedlinePlus. July 2022. 
3. Eye colors. Cleveland Clinic. March 2024. 
4. Hazel eyes: What determines hazel eye color? All About Vision. February 2019.*  
5. Amber eyes: Facts about this rare gold eye color. Eyebuydirect. July 2023.* 
6. The best glasses frames for your eye color. FramesDirect. Accessed May 2024.*  

Author: Anna Barden

Published: June 5, 2024