Topaz Gemstone

Topaz Gemstone

There is some confusion about the gemstone topaz. There are two main reasons for this. One is lack of education about the gemstone. The other, is that there are unscrupulous people who market other gems under the name topaz.

Citrine is often labeled as being yellow topaz. There is nothing wrong with citrine if you know that is what you are buying. Many times it will be labeled simply as topaz, and other times it will be called quartz topaz.

Topaz has been known about for over 2000 years. It is in the Christian bible as being one of the foundations of the twelve gates to the Holy City. ancient Egyptians and Romans associated the yellow Topaz with the god of the sun. the Greeks believed it could give great strength and even that it could make the wearer invisible in times of need.

There are a number of color variations in this gemstone including clear, yellow, orange, red, green and blue topaz . Clear is of little value and is often irridated to create shades of blue. Pink is also rarely found in nature and most pink stones found on the market have been yellow or brown stones that are heat treated to create pink. Enhancing gemstones is an accepted practice in the industry as long as information is provided to the consumer.

There have been deposits of topaz found in many locations around the world, Russia, Brazil, Nigeria, Sri Lanka and China , to name a few. Deposits have also been found in the US in Utah and Texas.

This stone has a hardness rating of 8. It could break if it suffered a hard blow, and it should be kept away from extreme heat.

November Birthstone yellow Imperial Topaz

The most valuable color of this gemstone is the golden-orange yellow that is called 'imperial topaz'. Be sure if you purchase this stone that you have documentation that clearly says it is genuine topaz.

Imperial topaz was said to have gotten it's name because this gemstone was worn by the Czarinas of Russia.

December birthstone swiss blue topaz

This is the coloration most people think of as topaz, but frequent ocurrences are recent in terms of history. Blue topaz rarely occurs as a natural event. Most blue stones on the market have been created by heat-treating colorless or light hued stones.

Blue topaz are offered under trade names such as 'Sky blue topaz', 'London blue topaz', and 'swiss blue topaz'. Sky blue is the lightest and london blue is the darkest.

Blue topaz was accepted through legislation in 1969 as the official state gemstone of Texas. This might have something to do with the fact that Texas is one location in the US where it is mined. This is a popular gemstone among Texans, and many jewelry pieces are sold sporting a 'lone star' cut.