14.50 carats Topaz from Pakistan Loose Gemstone

Topaz is a rare silicate mineral with a chemical composition of Al₂SiO₄(F,OH)₂.

Topaz obtains much of its popularity from its beautiful colors and its status as a birthstone.

Natural topaz colors include rare and valuable yellow, orange, pink, red, purple, and blue. The most affordable and frequently purchased are blue topaz and mystic topaz that have received their colors from treatment.

In 1812, Friedrich Mohs developed a set of 10 standard minerals that could be used to assign a relative hardness to minerals and other materials. Today, over 200 years later, his hardness scale is still used by students and geologists throughout the world to identify mineral specimens.

Description 

Topaz actually has an exceptionally wide color range that, besides brown, includes various tones and saturations of blue, green, yellow, orange, red, pink, and purple. Colorless topaz is plentiful, and is often treated to give it a blue color. Topaz is also pleochroic, meaning that the gem can show different colors in different crystal directions.

History 

Most authorities agree that the name topaz comes from Topazios, the old Greek name for a small island in the Red Sea, now called Zabargad. (The island never produced topaz, but it was once a source of peridot, which was confused with topaz before the development of modern mineralogy.) Some scholars trace the origin back to Sanskrit (an ancient language of India) and the word topas or tapaz, meaning “fire.” The ancient Greeks believed that topaz gave them strength. In Europe during the Renaissance (the period from the 1300s to the 1600s) people thought that topaz could break magic spells and dispel anger. For centuries, many people in India have believed that topaz worn above the heart assures long life, beauty, and intelligence.
The name for imperial topaz originated in nineteenth-century Russia. At the time, the Ural Mountains were topaz’s leading source, and the pink gemstone mined there was named to honor the Russian czar. Ownership of the gem was restricted to the royal family.

Product Information

Many consumers know topaz as simply an inexpensive blue gem. They’re surprised to learn that its blue color is hardly ever natural: It’s almost always caused by treatment. They might also be surprised to know that topaz has so many more colors to offer gem lovers, including pinks and purples that rival the finest fancy sapphires.

Birthstones & Anniversaries

Precious topaz is a birthstone for November and blue topaz is a birthstone for December. Blue topaz is the gem of the 4th anniversary and Imperial topaz is the gem of the 23rd anniversary.