Topaz
From the classic Russian Ural Mountan localities that have produced the world's standard for blue topaz for almost three centuries, to the variety of colors from the fabulous Brazilian pegmatites, to the newer discoveries of amazing, textbook-perfect crystals in Pakistan and Pala, California and the rhyolite-born crystals from Utah in the U.S., topaz has increased in popularity among mineral collectors and gem cutters for years.
The impressive sizes topaz crystals sometimes attain have amazed miners, mineral collectors and museum visitors as well. The Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History mineral collection has an interesting online display right now, it's a 22,892.5 carat Brazilian topaz, which happens to be November's birthstone, and this one is one of the largest faceted gems in the world. Uhhh, wow...
Here are a few nice and interesting topaz specimens - I hope you enjoy them. There are also a couple of surprise specimens thrown in for fun. If you are a really serious topaz fan, please drop me a line. I have a couple of specimens not shown here that might interest you.
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Topaz on matrix A cluster of blue, blue-green, and clear topaz crystals on an interesting matrix of pegmatite granite. Some of the smaller topaz crystals are incomplete, and there are a few areas of damage where the specimen came away from the pocket. Nonetheless, this is a really nice, old topaz specimen from "the" classic blue topaz locality, which has been exhausted for a long time.. The main crystal is a very nice transparent blue, has a classic topaz termination, and sits up nicely on the top - center of the piece.
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Topaz on Quartz with Albite A very pale blue, 3x2 cm topaz crystal emerging from a cluster of albite on a large, clear shard of quartz. The topaz is sharp and lustrous, and has some interesting circular growth patterns on the faces. It is cloudy in some areas and gemmy in others. The quartz has been cleaved on the back, but looks pretty good from the front. By no means a competition piece, but this is an unusual configuration for a Paki topaz.
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Topaz with Smoky Quartz You'll either love this specimen, or hate it! It's a HUGE, light green topaz with a few perfect faces, ans some that show bizarre growth and etching patterns. The sides of the crystal look striated, giving it a spodumene-like character. Wrapped around the front half of the topaz is a "girdle"of flat, blocky, translucent smoky quartz crystals. All of the crystals are complete and doubly-terminated, although the base of the topaz is pretty jagged and has a few areas of contact. There are a couple of dings on the upper faces as well, but given the weird etching, they're not too distracting. This is a specimen that has really grown on me since I've had it. It isn't "perfect," but it is so unusual and striking that I've really come to like it. It has also kicked my butt every time I've tried to photograph it, so if you're interested, take the time to see it in real life. The photos are pretty accurate, but it's just about impossible to capture the unique nature of this piece on film (or pixels). |
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Topaz on Quartz with Schorl An incredibly clear, beautifully, doubly-terminated, light sherry-colored topaz measuring 4x2x2.5 cm flanked by a pair of etched quartz crystals and a broken, triangualar schorl. The topaz has some tiny inclusions of a hairlike black mineral near its base, and is accented by a few plates of cleavelandite.
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Topaz with Fluorite, Aquamarine, Schorl and Albite One of the most impressive pegamtite combination specimens I've ever seen. For a long time, I've been calling this one the "Ice Cream Sundae." The cherry on top is a 2x2x1.3 cm sherry topaz. Next to that is a similar-sized green, modified octahedral fluorite and a couple of clear, light blue aquas. As you move away from this amazing focal point, there are several more small topaz, fluorite and at least 10 aquamarine crystals emerging from the albite matirx, all nicely accented by a number of small schorl tourmalines. There is a contact on the back of the main topaz, and most of the schorls are broken off (probably in-situ, as the breaks are "soft"), but everything else about this specimen is almost unbelievable.
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Aquamarine and Apatite on Muscovite Surprise #1 for the Topaz page! This is one of the few aqua/apatite specimens I've ever purchased. Many of them have come out over the years, but most (that are within the price stratosphere) just don't have the aesthetic appeal that gets me breathing heavily. This one does. It's not a "perfect" specimen - the main apatite has a crack, and part of the back is missing, and there is a small ding on the termination of the main aqua, but the colors of both minerals are wonderful. Super-clear light blue aqua and very pink (no hint of orange) apatite. And, the muscovite blades are sharp, silver, and not damaged. The specimen displays beautifully from straight-ahead, and comes with a custom Sunnywood lucite base.
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Topaz with Smoky Quartz A nice association specimen featuring a light blue topaz crystal alongside a deep brown smoky quartz point. The topaz is actually a little deeper blue than the photo shows, and has no damage, other than the base of the specimen, where it was removed from the pocket. There are gemmy and cloudy areas in the topaz, and a few internal "fuzzies," but the faces are all sharp and lustrous.
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Aquamarine on Schorl with Albite Very aesthetic specimen with a 1.5 cm clear, light blue-green aqua with a modified termination emerging from a large, lustrous schorl, all wrapped up in a number of sharp albite crystals. Just one big, beautiful Pakistani combo, and the second not-a-topaz on this page!
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Topaz on Torumaline with Mica A beautiful, doubly-terminated, very clear and lightly-colored topaz attached to a deep green, partial tourmaline crystal. With minor feldpsar and some small, translucent mica crystals. A really nice, sparkly "toenail" topaz.
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Alpine Minerals | Minerals | Topaz