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December
Birthstone: Blue Topaz
Topaz
comes in many colors: blue, yellow, pink, brown, green and
clear. Orange-red "Imperial" topaz is the rarest.
Topaz
has a hardness of 8. As with all gems, protect topaz from
scratches and sharp blows. Also avoid large temperature changes
(don't leave topaz near a heater vent or in a hot car).
Do
not clean topaz in a home ultrasonic cleaner. The best way
to clean topaz is warm soapy water. Clear topaz is commonly
irradiated and heat treated to become blue. Yellow and brown
topaz is often heat treated to become pink topaz, since natural
pink topaz is extremely rare.
Reputable
dealers will not use the following misleading terms: "Bohemian
Topaz", "Madeira Topaz" and "Occidental topaz" are really
yellow quartz (also known as citrine). "Nevada topaz" is really
smoky obsidian. "Spanish topaz" is really orange-brown quartz.
Topaz is found in Africa, Australia, Brazil, China, Japan,
Mexico, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Russia, and
USA (Colorado, Maine and Utah).
(This
article written by Mike McGinnis and published originally
on indiasilver.com.
We encourage republication but stipulate the piece be copied
in its entirety with links and attribution.)
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