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Thirteen Things ~ Topaz

Thirteen Things about Topaz

Topaz is the birthstone of November (yellow topaz) and December (blue topaz). My youngest son was born in December, so I use blue topaz for his birthstone.

It's the suggested anniversary gemstone for the 4th, 19th or 23rd year of marriage.

The name topaz comes from the Sanskrit and means fire.

According to Pliny, the name topaz was derived from the Island of Topazos in the Red Sea, which probably refers to Zeberged, ancient source for peridot.

Topaz occurs in a wide range of colors including red, orange, peach, pink, gold, yellow, brown and clear and is found in Brazil, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Russia.

Red and pink topaz gems were used in the jewelry of the 18th and 19th Century Russian Czarinas and is why topaz is sometimes called "Imperial Topaz".

Although topaz is a very hard gemstone, an 8 on the Mohs scale of hardness, it can be split with a single blow and should be protected from hard knocks.

During the Middle Ages topaz was thought to heal both physical and mental disorders and prevent death.

The Greeks believed it had power to increase strength and to make its wearer invisible while the Romans believed it had power to improve eyesight. The Egyptians wore it as an amulet to protect them from injury.

Topaz occurs in gneiss or granite associated with beryl, mica, and tourmaline and occasionally with apatite, cassiterite, and fluorite; it also occurs in certain talcose rocks, mica slate, rhyolite, and in alluvial deposits and drift.

At Ouro Preto and other localities in Minas Gerais, Brazil, very large crystals up to more then 200kg have been found.

In the USA Topaz is found at Pikes Peak in Colorado and the Thomas Range in Utah.

Jewelers nowadays manufacture topazes that show iridescent colors. They do this by applying a layer of titanium oxide to the stone through the process of physical vapor deposition. The most renowned of this creation is named as the Mystic Fire Topaz, which name the company Azotic Coatings patented during the late 1990s.

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