You might be surprised to learn that the blue color that springs to mind for topaz is hardly ever natural: It’s almost always caused by treatment. In fact, topaz has many colors to offer gem lovers, including pinks and purples that rival fancy sapphire!

Imperial Topaz, Grants Jewelry

Photo shows a two-tone gold pin set with a diamond and a 6 ct (approx.) Imperial topaz from Mina Gerais, Brazil.

Topaz is allochromatic. Its color is caused by impurity elements or defects in its crystal structure rather than by an element of its basic chemical composition. Chromium causes natural pink, red, and violet-to-purple colors in topaz. Imperfections at the atomic level in topaz crystal structure can cause yellow, brown, and blue color. Brown is a common topaz color, and is sometimes mistakenly called “smoky quartz.”

Citrine is very rare in nature. It used to be confused with topaz. Today, its durability and affordability makes it the top-selling yellow-to-orange gem.  Citrine’s most popular shade is an earthy, deep, brownish or reddish orange.

today most citrine quartz is the result of heat treatment of amethyst quartz. Even so, gems from the Victorian era have surfaced, and it’s not hard to imagine that citrine was treasured even in earlier times.

Citrine Carving

Most citrine quartz available now is the result of heat treatment of amethyst quartz. Based on the gems from the Victorian era that have surfaced, it’s not hard to imagine that citrine was treasured even in earlier times.

Interested in more stories like this?  Join Us On Social Media.

We send periodic email announcements and a monthly newsletter with clips to our favorite News & Events stories.  Subscribe today.

[salesforce form=”2″]