Topaz - The Ross Jewelry Company

Topaz
Gemstones

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Rich golden yellow precious Topaz

Imperial Topaz
Topaz Gemstones at The Ross Jewelry Company in Atlanta, Georgia.

Topaz of the best known gemstones. In fact, its name is so popular that most of the owners of a citrine claim to own a Topaz. The name is believed to have derived from the Greek word topazos, the ancient name for St. John's Island in the Red Sea, or from the Sanskrit tapas meaning "fire".

Coloration
Topaz is well known to be yellow, and in ancient times all yellow stones were called Topaz. Today, we know more about the color variations of this beautiful gemstone.

Topaz can also be colorless, pink, blue, green, orange or brown (Imperial Topaz, pictured above) and . . . a color variation called "Mystic" Topaz. The unique appearance of Mystic Topaz is a result of treatment. Topaz is a beautiful gemstone with many color variations . . . and we carry all of these colors.


Rich pink Topaz
Deep Swiss blue Topaz
Unique green Topaz
Unique green Topaz

Red and intense pink are the most rare and most desirable colors for Topaz. A gem with these colors will command a relatively high price. Bright orange color Topaz, also known as Imperial Topaz, falls into the moderate price range and is easier to find. Blue Topaz, having a low to moderate price range, is very popular, because a variety of shades, sizes and shapes are available.

The true determinant for the evaluation of this precious stone will be the wearer's preference. The intensity of color and the clarity of the stone will contribute to the value of topaz as well, and should never be neglected.

Precious Topaz
The classical "precious topaz" is yellow or yellow to orange-brown in color. Sherry or Madeira would best describe the most desirable and most valuable color.

Blue Topaz
Over the last 10 years or so, jewelers' windows have become filled with Blue Topaz, which is very attractive and inexpensive. It has, to some extent, become a substitute for Ceylon Sapphire. Blue Topaz does occur naturally, but almost all commercially available material is produced from less attractive colors which are irradiated and heat treated to turn them blue. This treatment produces a stable color, and normally the stones are not radioactive when they are released on the market, although there have been cases where stones with an unsafe level of radiation have been sold.

There are distinct hues of Blue Topaz, which arise as a result of the different treatments. The most usual colors are known as "London Blue", "Swiss Blue" and "Sky Blue". These colors were listed in order from the deepest to the palest colors.

Cleavage
Perfect cleavage is one of the notable attributes of Topaz. Because of the nature of its crystal structure, Topaz has like one plane in which its bonds are relatively weak. If it receives a sharp blow in the wrong place or direction, it can fairly easily break cleanly in two. This is similar to the way in which large diamonds are cut, and should not be too great a concern in normal jewelry use, once the stone is mounted.

Sources
The world's largest supplier of topaz is Brazil. However, Pakistan and Russia are now emerging as the new sources for topaz supply. Topaz comes in a variety of shapes, colors and sizes making it ideal for a wide variety of applications.

Technical Characteristics

Topaz is composed of Aluminium Fluosilicate, the fluorine (F) and the hydroxyl (OH) can partly replace each other.

Chemical Composition: Al2(OH,F)2SiO4 - Aluminium Fluosilicate
Hardness: 8
Specific Gravity: 3.50 - 3.60
Refractive Index (R.I.): (Blue & White) 1.61 - 1.62
(Brown & Pink) 1.63 - 1.64
Bi-refringence: (Blue & White) 0.010
(Brown & Pink) 0.008
Optic Sign: Positive
Optical Character: Biaxial
Crystal Structure: Rhombic

The Ross Jewelry Company - 7 Piedmont Center, Suite 104 - Atlanta, Georgia - (404) 495-3720

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