Topaz Colors
Folklore and Legends about the Topaz
The Topaz is a truly beautiful stone that has the effect of capturing the sun inside it. According to mythology, the Romans believed the Topaz was actually Jupiter the Sun god and Egyptians wore the topaz to ward off evil and believed the Sun god Ra protected the wearer of the stone. It was the belief of the Greeks that the topaz increased the strength of the wearer and mad him invisible to the enemy and during the middle Ages everyone was under the impression that the topaz had powers to cure both physical and mental ailments and also prevent death.
Characteristics of the Topaz
Topaz that is normally available is colorless or brown in color. The more precious and rare stone is the imperial topaz of a golden color and also found in pink, red, purple, and orange. Finding a blue topaz is very rare and even if you do, it means the effect has been caused due to irradiation and heat treatment. Being the birthstone for the month of November, although the topaz is considered a hard stone, it can be broken quite easily if hit at the correct angle.
Different Colors of the Topaz
Topaz seems to come in all colors in the rainbow and more. For example:
The most famous of all is the gold colored stone with streaks of brown or shades of orange and sometimes even peach.
The commonly found topaz in countries like Brazil, Sri Lanka, China, India and Nigeria is colorless and known as white topaz.
The largest in size is called the Braganza topaz and is said to be found in the Portuguese Crown and had at first been thought of as a Diamond.
Blue topaz can be created in a lab by irradiating the pale colored topaz.
Sri Lanka and Brazil are home to red, pink, yellow, brown and orange topaz which are usually enhanced through heat treatment to bring out some truly magnificent colors.
Very recently, gemologists managed to create a green topaz which can be either a pale leaf green or a rich emerald green. These are color enhanced by gem labs and not the natural stones.
The pink topaz found in Russia and Pakistan is usually a very pale pink. If you come across a hot pink or a bright shade, that means the stone has been artificially treated to enhance color which is done in the case of most gemstones.
How Does Color Affect the Value of Topaz?
The white topaz is said to be of very little value because it is available anywhere and also not as attractive when compared to other colors. The white topaz however has become quite popular recently and is being used in many jewelry settings today.
The pale blue topaz is also quite common and as such of little value.
The Imperial Topaz is quite valuable and comes in shades of bright pink, yellow, orange and brown and is considered unique because of its different colors.
The most valuable of all is the pink topaz which is very rare and would cost almost 10 times more than the pale blue topaz in today's market.
Recognizing a Natural and a synthetic Topaz
The truth is that it's not really necessary to create fakes out of topaz because it’s readily available in the market and not very costly. It is believed that the synthetic stones can be more costly than the natural ones and you should always ask the trader about this. However, there are fakes like in everything else and quartz and glass is sometimes used to produce fake topaz that is passed on as the genuine stone. A test that will prove the truth is when you rub quartz against topaz the quartz will get scratched while the topaz will not.
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