Topaz: The November Birthstone

Topaz is a stone with gorgeous clarity, it is a strong stone and comes in a rainbow of colours, which makes it ideal for jewellery making. Because of its rarity, topaz is an expensive gem. The rarest and most valuable colour being red, light blue is more common and of less value but no less stunning. Topaz is the birthstone of November and in this blog post, we explore its interesting history and properties.

Topaz Facts

Colour: Colours of topaz range from golden yellow, pink, blue, green or colourless. Yellow, pink and red is the most valuable with natural pink stones being very rare. Many of the colourless stones are heat treated to a create range of blues.

Appearance: In its raw form the topaz occurs as well formed prismatic crystal which can be of great size. Topaz can also form in large granular and columnar habits. It is a transparent to translucent stone with a vitreous lustre. Topaz is more commonly cut as a faceted stone when used for jewellery making use.

Rarity: Untreated stones are rare with pink and yellow stones being the hardest to come across.

Mohs' Hardness: Topaz measures 8 on the scale, making it a strong stone, adding to its appeal and more expensive price tag.

Sourced: United States, Mexico, Brazil, Pakistan and Africa.

Topaz Formation & History

Topaz forms most commonly in pegmatites (a coarsely crystalline granite or other igneous rock). Topaz can also form in veins and cavities in granitic rock and volcanic lavas. It occurs with a variety of other minerals such as quartz.

There are a number of ideas as to where the name topaz derives from. One being from the Sanskrit word tapas, meaning fire, another being that it is derived from the greek word Τοpáziοs’ or ‘Τοpáziοn which means yellow stone. The most famous topaz is actually a colourless topaz. In the 17th century, a large white , or colourless stone was used in a Portuguese crown. At the time it was thought to be the largest diamond ever found at 1640 carats, but is now believed to be a colourless topaz.

Topaz Properties

Topaz is thought to be a mellow and empathetic stone that directs energy to where it is needed most - A great stone for balancing emotions. The November birthstone is also believed to promote truth and forgiveness by cutting through doubt and uncertainty. In her book The Crystal Bible, Judy Hall states that topaz's vibrant energy brings joy, generosity, abundance and good health. It has traditionally been known as a stone of love and good fortune. bringing successful attainment of goals. Negativity does not survive around joyful topaz.

Topaz Healing

Topaz is said to stimulate the metabolism and restores the sense of taste and manifest health. During the Middle Ages topaz was thought to heal both physical and mental disorders and prevent death. Throughout history the stone has been linked to many powers, for example the Greeks believed it increased strength, the Romans believed it had power to improve eyesight and the Egyptians wore it to protect them from injury.

Jewellery Making With Topaz

As Topaz has a mohs's scale hardness of 8, it is great gemstone to use within jewellery design.

It's rareness, sparkle and beautiful colour options almost always result in a stunning, eye catching piece that people find hard to resist.

Topaz is commonly found cut as a faceted stone in the smaller to medium sizes and in a range of shapes.

For the beautiful necklace we have used a sterling silver snaptite pendant setting to set a twilight mystic topaz stone. For the eye-catch earstuds we have used sterling silver snaptite earstud settings for faceted stones.

Mystic Topaz Twist Ring

This stunning ring uses one of our most popular topaz stones - mystic fire topaz! This is a great project if you want to start using basic silversmithing techniques...

Mystic Turquoise Crystal Pendant

Perfect to complete your festival outfit or a beautiful piece to gift to a crystal lover! This project uses our crystal quartz drilled points alongside an iridescent aqua topaz faceted stone set into a snaptite setting.

Watch our range of topaz gemstones in action...

Discover Popular Topaz Colours From Our Collection

Sky Blue Topaz

London Blue Topaz

Pink Topaz

Mystic Fire Topaz

White Topaz

Twilight Topaz

Shop Gemstones & Jewellery Making Supplies With Kernowcraft

Faceted Stone Settings

We have a beautiful range of topaz stones, so why not use your favourite alongside one of our faceted stone settings? Choose from a large range of ring, pendant and earring settings...

Discover More Gemstones With Kernowcraft

We stock over 800 high quality precious and semi precious gemstone cabochon and faceted stones, gemstone beads and half drilled beads for jewellery making! Go and explore our collection

References:

Judy Hall : The Crystal Bible.
Chris Pellant: Rocks And Minerals
Cally Hall: Gemstones
Birthstone Zodiac
Bernardine Fine Art Jewellery Gemstone Category

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