TOPAZ              

Let us imagine one of our ancestors in the Stone Age, foraging for firewood orfood. Suddenly he catches sight of something gleaming in the dirt, reflecting the light, mystified by what we now know to be a gemstone. This beautiful,transparent, golden colored gem might have been topaz, one of the first gemstones ever found and used for adornment by our ancestors. Some believe the name comes from ancient Sanskrit or ancient Greek, and we now know that the term was probably used for many golden colored stones.

Topaz has always been a popular gemstone and a symbol of wealth. It is also one of the most treated gemstones on the market so gem lovers truly appreciate the variety of beautiful untreated colors that can be found in nature: golden yellows, rare light blues,very rare pinks, and exquisite sherry-peach-golden brown mixtures.

Topaz is a fairly common gemstone, mined in localities on every continent, but the best color quality for collectors comes from Brazil, the Imperial Topaz. The name was originally an homage to an emperor, and it aptly refers to its unique color only found in this location. Imperial topaz is a golden peach sherry color due to traces of iron and chromium, with an ever-present lovely pink undertone or color zoning. Untreated, it is a pure gift of nature.

Topaz is sometimes found in huge flawless crystals, and is a perfect stone for use in jewelry due to its durability and hardness. However it also displays perfect cleavage,which is the property of a mineral to break along certain planes in its structure, and is pleochroic, which means it displays varied color intensities when viewed from different angles. For these reasons the lapidary must take special care faceting this gem if the best possible results are to be obtained.

How easily the rose gold topaz reminds us of a delicious cocktail sipped on some remote beach, far away from the bustling crowds, surrounded only by nature.Truly a precious object to hold close and keep dear to one’s heart.
(Chapter from the Book “Gemstones. Terra Connoisseur” by Vladyslav Yavorskyy)