Topaz November Birthstone

For those born in November, Topaz has been named the traditional birthstone which has gotten its name from the Sanskrit word for fire. There was an ancient belief that this stone of fire could control heat and had power over boiling water, which is reason enough to believe that anyone who wears a topaz can control his anger or fever in the body. Gorgeous as the stone is, it somehow never had the same popularity as other semi precious stones although the sparkle in a faceted topaz was considered to be almost similar to that of the diamond and was said to have been used as a substitute for diamonds a long time ago.

As hard as the diamond, this beautiful peach gold stone has an oily luster to it that makes it sparkle and shine. The ancient Greeks imagined that the topaz was connected to strength and had powers to heal and bring sanity to life. It was even believed that who ever wore a topaz could make him invisible in the midst of danger and has been attributed with many medicinal benefits such as relief for those suffering from asthma, insomnia and vision problems. Another charming legend that surrounds this sparkling gold stone is one that has been revolving since the 13th century where it is stated that a topaz when engraved along with a picture of a falcon would help to get closer to royalty while the ancient Egyptians believed the color yellow of the topaz was a glow cast by the sun god Ra, and the Romans too worshiped it as their sun god Jupiter.

While many birthstones have kept changing over the years, the topaz is one gemstone that has been universally accepted as the birthstone for November and for those born under the zodiac sign of Sagittarius and strangely enough as if in keeping with both ancient Egyptians and Romans who connected the topaz with the sun god, the modern day topaz is also known as the Sunday's gemstone as a reminder to its association with the sun as its golden yellow color depicts.

Yellow however is not the only color in which topaz is found. Topaz November birthstone is also found in several other hues such as pink, brown, black, blue and light green while the pure topaz is almost colorless. The colors of this stone are formed due to inclusions and minor defects in the crystal. It's quite easy to change the color of the topaz in a laboratory by inducing heat that can bleach a brown stone or create a blue topaz by using high energy irradiation. When it comes to buying topaz, color is the principal factor and most collectors prefer to buy topaz that has a pinkish orange or reddish orange combination and known as Imperial Topaz which is said to be the rarest and most valuable among all types of topaz available today.

It is worth mentioning that the most famous topaz of all is in fact a colorless stone that was once thought to be a diamond and is known as the 'Braganza Diamond' which is set in the Portuguese Crown Jewels but is actually a 1680 carat topaz. There is also another very famous topaz which is in the Green Vault in Dresden as a part of a collection of some of the most famous gems and jewels in the world. /p>

Copyright (c) 2006, 2007,2008, 2009, 2010, 2011. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Technical Author Services Pty Ltd. ACN. 126 773 126. ABN 62 122 488 508. A private limited company incorporated in Victoria, Australia.