Jen’s Blog

I’ve recently bought my first blue topaz gemstone beads, and I am madly in love with them. Blue topaz, whether “London blue” (rich and deeper in tone), “Swiss Blue”, “Aqua Blue”, or just “Blue”, is gorgeous. It’s rated 8 on the MOHs scale, where diamond is a 10 and opal, for example, is 5.5 - opal is quite soft. Anyway, topaz is harder than many semi-precious stones, and can be brilliantly faceted - which is one reason it’s so costly. In my opinion it’s totally worth it - finely faceted stones are such a marvel. The blue is usually an enhanced color - topaz in its natural state is clear to yellowish. Lovely also, but not that scintillating, lovely blue. That color comes about after the stone is irradiated - and no, it is not “radioactive” and will not harm you in any way. And it’s not dyed, so the color won’t come off. Here’s a lovely necklace that’s made for a young girl, perhaps a flower girl, or communion present? Or just a special treat. The stones are tiny, only about 5-6mm long each, so the whole “flower” pendant is only about a half-inch wide.

Now isn’t that fit for a princess!

But I bring all this up for two reasons - one, to show off the new pretties I made with my scarce new blue topaz (see above) and two, to mention that if somebody is offering blue topaz for extremely low prices (say $10 for a strand or something) - well, just exercise a little caution. It might be clear quartz, dyed blue, and might also be pretty - in which case that’s fine, as long as you don’t pay “topaz” prices. But also, some of the very low-cost “topaz” (quartz) really is dyed - and the color will wash off.

The beautiful stones I bought are real topaz. They are not dyed, they are irradiated - there’s a difference in the color, truly. And I did try the wash test - with paint thinner and acetone, and even dish soap - some of the above-referenced quartz washes off, just like that! Does it seem strange I’d mention this stuff? I don’t think it is, truly. There is a lot of “buyer beware” stuff out there, and when I use good stuff - and charge accordingly - the least I can do is try to be sure it’s the best, AND to let you know some of the pitfalls to watch out for!