LONDON BLUE TOPAZ GEMSTONE

Description

Topaz is a silicate mineral of aluminium and fluorine with the chemical formula Al₂SiO₃. It is used as a gemstone in jewelry and other adornments. Common topaz in its natural state is colorless, though trace element impurities can make it pale blue or golden brown to yellow orange. Topaz actually has an exceptionally wide color range that, besides brown, includes various tones and saturations of blue, green, yellow, orange, red, pink, and purple.  It is often treated with heat or radiation to make it a deep blue, reddish-orange, pale green, pink, or purple.

Topaz is also pleochroic, meaning that the gem can show different colors in different crystal directions.

London Blue topaz is a topaz stone that has a very specific, inky shade of blue. It’s darker than regular topaz but lighter than a sapphire. In fact, the colour is best described as a halfway point between the two. The topaz stone is composed of fluorinated aluminium silicate. It measures in with a hardness of eight on the Mohs scale, which means that it is harder than quartz although it often grows alongside it. While harder than quartz, London Blue topaz is not as hard as sapphires, rubies or diamonds. The latter three are classified as gemstones, while topaz is classified as a mineral.

London Blue topaz has a fair bit of mystery and intrigue surrounding it. The stone has a specific hue of blue that makes it look almost inky and sets it apart from regular blue topaz, which is also known as Swiss Blue topaz. It’s often confused with blue sapphires, but the two are actually quite different.