Sudden changes in temperature can fracture the stone, so care should be taken to avoid rapid cooling or heating.White topaz, a transparent semiprecious stone, has often been mistaken for a diamond because of the similarities in clarity between the two stones and because both gems are hard. Never use ultrasonic or steam cleaners on topaz. It can be split with a single sharp blow, a trait it shares with diamond.Ĭlean with mild dish soap use a toothbrush to scrub behind the stone where dust can collect. Here are some more gemological stats for reference:Įven though it’s tough to scratch, you should protect your topaz from hard knocks. It is a bit harder than emerald at 7.5-8 and quartz which comes in at 7. For reference, topaz is a bit softer than diamond which is a 10 and corundum (sapphire/ruby) which is a 9 on the scale. Mohs hardness is a standardized metric of how difficult it is to scratch something. Topaz itself is a hard gemstone with a Mohs hardness of 8. These coatings can allow topaz to be any color of your preference. Mystic topaz comes in virtually any color from sunset orange, to violet, to green. These enhanced topaz pieces must be handled with special care because the coating can be scratched and the gem ruined very easily. A thin, multi-colored film is bonded on the surface of colorless topaz to create all the colors you see in Mystic Topaz. It is also one of the processes that is used to create lab grown diamonds. This is the same treatment process used to put coatings on lenses for glasses and cameras. A relatively new treatment process called Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) has been developed to create this additional color of topaz. The play of rainbow-like colors is definitely unique and enjoyable to see.
There are many trade names for the different shades of blue, but these three are the most widely accepted. The rule of thumb is simply that the light blue is Sky, the middle blue is Swiss, and the dark blue is London. Determining where one color ends and the next color begins is always a difficult call in gemology. If both treatments are used, they produce Swiss Blue Topaz. An electron bombardment in a linear accelerator results in the light Sky Blue Topaz. Gem suppliers use a neutron bombardment method in a nuclear reactor to produce the London Blue Topaz. The modern era has given us many new advances in gems.
Imperial Topaz is by far the most valuable variety, while colorless topaz is often the least expensive. Topaz is also found in less commonly known colors like green, pink, and purple.
#TOPAZ STONE FULL#
A full range of shades is available from light Sky Blue to dark London Blue. Golden Topaz: Yellow to orange without any red component (could be called precious topaz if more orange).Imperial Topaz: When both orange and red colors are present (although much of the jewelry industry might call golden topaz imperial).Some of these varieties have their own names: GemologyĪs we mentioned at the start of the article, topaz comes in a huge variety of colors. In the Victorian era, blue topaz signified faithfulness and love. Topaz was also thought to initiate healing, increase or maintain mental health, and even allow the wearer to go unseen by enemies. In ancient times, topaz was believed to protect its wearer. Of course, topaz isn’t found there, but the island used to be a source for peridot which was confused with topaz before modern gemology. The name “Topaz” comes from the old Greek name “Topazios” for an island in Foul Bay, Egypt (now called Zabargad). Even though its true identity is now known, the large imposter still sits in the Portuguese crown jewels today. It wasn’t until many years later that more modern testing identified it as a clear topaz instead. The famous “Braganza Diamond” was thought to be the largest diamond ever found (prior to the Cullinan Diamond) at 1,680 carats and was set in the Portuguese crown jewels as such. Topaz in its pure form is naturally colorless, clear like a diamond. You can hear one person say, “I love Topaz it reminds me of a blue sky.” Then her friend says back, “Topaz may be like a golden sunset, but not the sky.” A third friend will chime in, “You’re both crazy, it’s like a beautiful peach.” Then, a passerby contributes, “You all are nuts, it’s like a rainbow with all the colors at once.” And of course, all of them are right.
The old baseball joke, “Who’s on First?” “Yes, Who’s on First…” always comes to mind when I hear people discussing Topaz.
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