This gemstone is the birthstone of November. And to be honest, that fact was a long time the only certainty we had when we talked about the gemstone topaz. It is such a confusing gemstone, that in history people never knew what the topaz was. And still, this gemstone is not what you think it is.
This gemstone has been known in the Western World for more than 2,000 years. The Egyptians in the age of the pharaohs thought that the golden hue of the topaz came from the sun god Ra. In ancient references, they were talking or writing about it as a greenish-colored gemstone, but most likely they meant peridot or chrysolite. The latter meant ‘the golden stone’.
For thousands of years, all yellow gemstones were called topaz or regarded as a variation of this gemstone. An example of this is to be read in ancient texts, written by the Greek scholar Pliny. In the King James Bible, he mentioned this gem, but it seems that he refers to all the yellow gemstones.
And then it is also good to know that it can have a yellowish or golden color, but it occurs also in the color blue! But in those days they did not know!
In the Bible, it says that this gem was one of the gemstones set in the breastplate of Aaron. But it’s difficult to say, whether that is true or not. When you look at the general confusion about the names of gemstones and what gemstone they meant using a certain gemstone name, it’s most likely that the stones in the breastplate of Aaron and for that matter, the gemstones in my crowns or other famous pieces of jewelry too, is not the stone it was thought to be, but another one, that looked like it.
The name ‘topaz’ causes a lot of confusion. In the Greek and Roman Times, they called all yellow-colored gemstones topaz. But also the gemstone peridot, which was found on the island Topasios was called topaz. In the Middle Ages, they gave it the right denotation, but even today sometimes citrine (or more likely burned amethyst) is called topaz. Others believe that topaz is a word from the Middle Ages.
Pure topaz is colorless and the colors occur when the pure variety is ‘polluted’, with iron or chromium. Then it can occur in many colors, like wine red or straw yellow, but it can be white, grey, green, blue, or orange. The stone is transparent and looks a bit like glass.
In the 18th century, the colors yellow to orange were popular, but nowadays people like the color blue better for the topaz.
Mystic topaz is a topaz, which is coated. By heating and/or radiation, surface coating, and artificial irradiation the yellow-brown variety you get a pink or blue color. Heating other colors of topaz you will get a blue color too. But the blue one also occurs in nature, is not threatened, and mostly comes from Brazil, Ukraine, and the USA.
One kind is called gold or imperial topaz. And it’s good to know that violet and red variety are very rare.
In Texas/USA you can find the light blue gem variety, but it is not commercially mined in this region. Despite this fact, the blue topaz has been the official gemstone of Texas since 1969. And because of some reason Utah/USA declared this gemstone as the official gemstone of the state.
Light blue varieties can be found in Texas, though not commercially mined there. Blue topaz became an official gemstone of Texas in 1969, the same year Utah adopted it as its state gemstone.
In the images, an example of a natural blue-colored topaz crystal from Minas Gerais, Brazil
It is really hard to recognize Topaz. It is less hard than diamond, ruby, emerald, and sapphire (8 on the scale of Mohr). This gem has excellent cleavage in comparison with other gemstones. And you can recognize it when you can see different shades of color from a different angle. Due to the treatment of heating and radiation of a lot of them, it gets even harder to determine this gemstone. So be careful, that you don’t buy glass or Swarovski when you want topaz.
In the 13th century in the book of Raziel, called ‘the book of wings’ it was written that carved gemstones were created by nature. He writes that a figure of a falcon in a topaz will acquire the goodwill of princes, kings, and other powerful people. St Hildegard recommended in the 13th century this gem as a cure for eye problems and other sources mention the ‘fact’ that when you put one under your pillow it prevents nightmares.
In 1740 the miners of the Ouro Preto mine in Brazil thought they had found the biggest diamond on earth; it was 1640 carats and was called the ‘Braganza’ diamond. The Portuguese royalty loved that big diamond and it was set in the Portuguese crown. There was only a little minor point and that is that this diamond was never confirmed to be a diamond and now it is believed that is it a colorless topaz and no diamond.
The rich people in the Victorian Age loved the pink variety, which was very rare. So they used heat-treated golden topaz from Brasil for their pieces of jewelry.
This gemstone has enormous crystals, and faceted topaz can occur as one of the largest gemstones in the world. One crystal can be more than 3 feet long and weigh hundreds of pounds or kilos. A very large one has 20,000 carats, comes from Brazil, and weighs 600 lbs and you can see this one in the Museum of Natural History in New York.
But there is even one larger and that one is called the ‘Brazilian Princess’. It is pale blue, weighs 21.327 carats, and comes from the Teofilo Otoni Mine in Brazil. You can see that one in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC.
Due to sunlight, this gem can change in color, so keep it out of strong direct sunlight. It has to be protected from exposure to rapid temperature changes or acids. You can clean it best with warm water with a little hand soap.
Topaz is a beautiful gemstone with a lot of qualities, but… it is hard to recognize whether you have a real non-threatened variety or a heat-threatened or radiated one. Or even worse you buy a piece of glass or Swarovski instead of this beauty. So be careful and some advice and guarantee could be used here.
‘FlorenceJewelshop published a PDF with a lot of information about birthstones and other interesting gemstones. It is free of charge and a great pamphlet to read. Just let me know to whom I can send it.
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