 The birthstone for November is topaz.
Topaz is a silicate mineral of aluminum and fluorine. The basic
color for topaz is clear, but many color varieties are present based upon
trace impurities in the stone. One of the
 most
common is the yellow-brown color shown at right. Irradiation of
yellow topaz causes the stone to change color, becoming the blue
color shown, at left after both radiation and heating.
Topaz is mined in many countries and is usually found in igneous rocks
(volcanic) of the granite and rhyolite types. The largest topaz ever
found was named the "El Dorado" and was found in Brazil in 1984.
This stone weighed 13.6 pounds and is now part of the British Royal
Collection.
Topaz has a hardness of 8.0 on the Mohs hardness scale. This
makes topaz harder than sand and dust and for this reason suitable for
everyday wear.
The name topaz is derived from the name of an island in the Red Sea
that was a source for a yellow gemstone in ancient times. This
island was very difficult to find and was named topazos in Greek,
which means "to seek." During the Middle Ages, the name topaz was
applied to any yellow gemstone.
For more information on
topaz visit Wikipedia here.
To view our
selection of yellow topaz colored cubic zirconia please select here or
select the picture above-right.
To view our selection
of blue topaz colored cubic zirconia, please select here or select the
picture above-left. The following article on blue
topaz was written by Robert James FGA, GG, International School of
Gemology, and has not been edited by WigJig. It provides an insight
into the jewelry industry. WigJig does not sell mined blue topaz
gemstones, but sells instead Cubic Zirconia gemstones manufactured in the
same blue color as the blue topaz. To the best of our knowledge,
WigJig does do not sell any irradiated gemstones.
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Special Edition: The Truth on Blue Topaz
or........how the NRC and JVC yelled FIRE in the
theater!
Blue Topaz: Too Hot to Handle! That is the headline from one
leading gemstone industry publication. But has the panic
over the radiation of blue topaz taken over common sense,
and more importantly the truth? I believe it has. And in
this Special Edition of the ISG QuikConnect eNewsletter we
would like to present some down to earth information to
clarify this situation.
The History
Topaz has been irradiated to produce a blue color since
around 1979. At the time, the material was selling for
US$80.00 per carat wholesale, with the US
market buying up every blue topaz that could be produced.
The market was so big that foreign producers were importing
the stones in huge quantities.
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Blue topaz is brown after radiation. Heating turns it the blue color as
shown above.
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The Problem
The problem was that once the stones are irradiated,
they give off residual radiation for a period of about a
year, meaning that stones that are irradiated and
immediately shipped and sold will give off that residual
radioactivity to the shipper, dealer and wearer. And that
is exactly what happened during the 1979 to 1981
introductory years of blue topaz on the markets. A lot of
radioactive blue topaz sold on the US
market, but we did not hear about it at that time.
The Solution
The solution was adopted in the early 1980s when the US
Nuclear Regulatory Commission was given power to control
distribution of blue topaz in the US
markets. And to do this, the NRC required all importers to
maintain a blue topaz import license to insure that all
blue topaz was properly tested.
The Problem (again)
The problem was that the NRC failed dramatically to
maintain their vigilance of the licenses and importers.
They simply failed to do their job. As a result, over a
period of about 25 years, the NRC's failure to do their
job resulted in license holders not renewing their import
license, and dealers simply importing blue topaz without
any controls.
 The
Panic
This has gone on for decades. And those of us who
have been around 30 or
more years have been fully aware of this situation.
Based on the fact that no one has ever actually
found a blue topaz that was radioactive in a jewelry
store, the situation was simply moot. However,
about a year ago someone at the NRC realized that
blue topaz was being sold throughout the US , but no one had a NRC license
to import blue topaz. When that word got out, the
jewelry industry media (by way of the Jewelers
Vigilance Committee) picked up on the story and used
it to create panic and headlines.
To date, the NRC reports no radioactive blue
topaz has been found by their
investigations and dealer testing. In other words,
this whole panic was not started because radioactive
blue topaz was actually found anywhere in the
market. It was started because someone at the NRC
realized that the NRC had failed to do their job and
oversee the license requirements for importers.
So the panic is not based on radioactive gemstones.
This whole mess is based on the NRC failing to do
its paperwork.
And just to prove the point, the ISG will pay a
$250.00 reward to any jewelry store owner who can
send us a radioactive blue topaz from your
inventory. US$250.00 for a proven radioactive blue
topaz of any size or color. We are looking to obtain
10 stones if anyone has any.
The truth is that this entire blue topaz fiasco is
based on a condition that has been around for 27
years, is due to the failure of the NRC to do its
job, is due to the jewelry industry media creating a
panic without telling the complete story, and all
the while not one radioactive blue topaz has been
found by all of the NRC testing.
As if business was not bad enough right now for
independent retail jewelers, we do not need this.
The NRC, the jewelry industry media, and the
Jewelers Vigilance Committee should be more
responsible.
They have done the equivalent of yelling FIRE in the
jewelry industry theater, when there is neither
smoke nor fire to be found anywhere. Just some
people not doing their paperwork.
Robert James FGA, GG
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The above article on Blue
Topaz was reprinted with permission of the author. This article
was copyrighted and no copying, duplication or distribution is
authorized without permission from the author.
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