| Blue Topaz comes in various shades of blue. | | | | types of radiation. After almost a year of "rest," |
| Whatever its shade, Topaz has a place in beautiful | | | | the radiation levels are cool enough so that they |
| jewelry and intriguing legends. | | | | can be worn by consumers. |
| Being a quartz crystal, Topaz is usually colorless | | | | Most blue topaz has a modest value, so there's |
| before being transformed through irradiation into | | | | little incentive for gemologists to create synthetic |
| its blue color. The gem is then irradiated to bring | | | | versions of the gem. By coating quartz crystals |
| out its blue color and heated to make the change | | | | with titanium particles, a rainbow of colors is |
| permanent. The color depends on which type of | | | | produce that is commonly referred to as Mystic |
| radiation is used. | | | | Topaz. Unfortunately, this treatment isn't |
| Exposing the topaz crystals to neutrons in a | | | | permanent, and the coating is extremely fragile, |
| nuclear accelerator transforms the color into a | | | | so the stones must be handled very gently. |
| deep bluish-green or bluish-gray color commonly | | | | Despite its unusual production methods, Topaz |
| referred to as London Blue Topaz. Exposing the | | | | serves as a wonderful gemstone because it has a |
| topaz crystals to electrons in a linear accelerator | | | | high refractive index and polishes up beautifully. |
| produces the most common color of Blue Topaz | | | | Having a Moh's Scale of 8 makes Topaz one of |
| - Sky Blue Topaz. To create the highly saturated | | | | the hardest gemstones and also makes it very |
| colors known as Swiss Blue or Electric Blue, | | | | durable and ideal for jewelry. |
| topazes are bathed with a combination of both | | | | |