Blue Topaz, the December birthstone radiates love, compassion, truth and forgiveness, typical of a person born in the month of December. It balances the wearer emotionally and mentally and relaxes mind, body and soul. Topaz naturally occurs in the shades of golden brown to yellow. Topaz is also found in wine red, pale grey, reddish-orange, pale green, or pink, and opaque to translucent or transparent colours, which is obtained due to presence of certain impurities or by treating topaz in various ways. However, the most popular colour of topaz is the blue colour.
The Swiss blue and London blue hue of the topaz is achieved by thermally treating an irradiating the colourless topaz. Brazil tops the chart of being the world’s largest producer of blue topaz, with Sri Lanka, Nigeria and China next on the list. Blue topaz is often taken for aquamarine at times.
The word Topaz is taken from the Sanskrit term ‘tapas’; this transparent jewel has the mystical stone is known for its ability to cool hot water, hence the name. The Hebrew High Priest used to wear the pristine gemstone in their breastplate. According to a Greek lore, the gemstone jewellery if worn provided them with strength and dispelled magical spells.
The stone is said to be an emphatic gemstone which sustains emotions and helps in overcoming communication gap by building bridges. Since, it helps in vocalizing thoughts and emotions; it is best suited to energize the throat chakra and is often worn around the neck in shape of beautiful pendants. ‘The Writers’ Stone’, as it is named, it opens a world of wisdom to the wearer, making the wearer receptive to knowledge. It is symbolic of love and fidelity. It is mostly worn in the form of silver jewellery and gold jewellery as bracelets, pendants and rings.
It is the hardest known gemstone of the silica family measuring 8 on Mohs hardness scale. This mineral is composed of Aluminium, Silicon dioxide and fluorine which solidifies under high temperature and pressure. It reflects vitreous lustre and exhibits orthorhombic crystal system.The diaphaneity of the gemstone ranges from translucent to transparent.Its specific gravity falls with the range of 3.4-3.6.It also displays biaxial optical property and has a refractive index of 1.6.
Blue Topaz gemstone jewellery must only be washed with soap and warm water. Usage of jewellery cleaners, lotions and hand sanitizers must be strictly avoided. It must not be cleaned in ultrasonic or steam cleaners as it might cleave easily. Since, the blue topaz is thermally treated; long exposure to sunlight will not cause the stone to fade.
