Sterling Silver Jewelry: Peridot Gem Of The Sun

In the pages describing its etymology and history we learn that Peridot through time received the erroneous name of topaz. Today, topaz is often referred to as ‘Gem Of The Sun’, a moniker attached to a scintillating gemstone sourced in ancient Egypt. However, the topaz that we know today was unknown to the Egyptians, making it impossible for our topaz to be the suitor of this description. Unlike topaz, Peridot was known to the Egyptians, and was sourced from the island of ‘Topazin.’ This island, located in Foul Bay off the southern coast of Egypt in the Red Sea, is now known as Zabargad.

The slaves that sourced the island’s green ‘Topazion’ gems mined by day, but also by night as it was apparently difficult to distinguish the lustrous green gems by daylight. To overcome this problem, the workers would go out at dusk and mark the location of the gems, which glowed under the incandescent light of torchlights. The workers would then return the next day to work the area. It is believed that the nocturnal brilliance of ‘Topazion’ gave rise to the green gemstone being appropriated with the pseudonym: ‘The Evening Emerald’. It is more than possible that this after dark light show also gave rise to the alias of ‘The Gem Of The Sun.’

However, it is also possible that this term was derived from Egyptians who had already found Peridot inside Pallasite meteorites. Pallasite meteorites are iron-nickel meteorites, which contain Olivine and subsequently Olivine’s sub-species Forsterite-Olivine, or as it’s more commonly known Peridot. Pallasite meteorites are named after the German naturalist Pyotr Pallas, who in 1772 found a 1,600-pound mass that had fallen in Siberia. But how could such Peridot gems form in outer space?

There are asteroids floating in space that measure as much as 50-200km in diameter, these huge rocks once formed the outer and inner layers of planets. In space the accumulation of that much mass, including the inclusion of high-temperature radioactive materials, would slowly alter an asteroids body causing the denser metals to drop to the center of the body. Less dense materials like Olivine wouldn’t descend so far, and would take shape within the outer layers of the asteroid. Overtime these immense asteroids, resembling the structure of the Earth, could possess the equivalent of a crust, mantle and core.

Eventually, the radioactive processes within the core of these asteroids, cooled down and substances such as Olivine would crystallize. A big enough collision between two asteroids would cause fragments of the Olivine rich core-mantle boundary to fly through space; these fragments are the sources of Pallasite meteorites. These meteorites have fallen out of the heavens at regular intervals since the dawn of time. Therefore, it is not difficult to imagine that the ancient alchemic cultures of Egypt, believing ‘As it is above, so it is below,’ considered these bright green Peridot crystals at the heart of these sky rocks to be ‘The Gems Of The Sun.’

The ancient connection between Peridot, and the virtues of the Sun, remained right up until the Middle Ages when Peridot was also called ‘Crisolite:’ The golden stone.

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Written for SilverShake, an online retailer of silver peridot jewelry and sterling silver jewelry at wholesale prices. Purchase today and get silver jewelry worth up to $60...Free!

Sterling Silver Jewelry: The Definition Of Topaz

Topaz (To-Paz): The roots of the word Topaz first burgeoned into life in ancient Egypt, circa 300B.C., under the Pharaoh Ptolemy II. However, what the Egyptians, Greeks and subsequent Romans came to refer to as Topaz was in fact what we call Peridot. In reality the mineral known as Topaz, has only been officially recognized since the 17th Century. At that time, hundreds of kilos were sourced from Saxony in East Germany, later massive deposits were also found in South America.

Topaz was first discovered in the ‘New World’, under the reigning Portuguese colonialists, in the Brazilian mines of Villa Rica near Ouro Prêto. From these mines came a colored Topaz never seen before. Owing to the Portuguese royal family’s love of these gems, this variety received one of Topaz’s most prestigious titles: Imperial.

‘Imperial’ Topaz is the most coveted of all the Topaz family. Its name is used to denote colors that fall between a scintillating golden and orange-brown, for the most part Imperial Topaz is sourced from the mines of Ouro Prêto in Brazil. Another highly prized Topaz is the pink variety, which is sourced from Brazil and also the Katlang region in Pakistan. Most Pink Topaz derives its color from chromium present within the gems crystal structure. Heating the dark-yellow variety of Topaz can also produce Pink Topaz. Naturally occurring Yellow and Brown Topaz owe their colors to ‘Color Centers,’ the infamous ‘Swiss,’ ‘Sky’ and ‘London’ Blue Topaz are often derived from these two sources by a process of irradiating ‘Out’ the Yellow and Brown ‘Color Centers.’

Color centers are the cause of color within some Topaz crystals; they result from defects within the atomic structure of the crystal, which cause certain colors to become visible by the absorption of other light waves. Color centers are formed due to exposure to gamma rays; this irradiation may be from both natural and artificial sources. When exposed to radioactive sources, both natural and artificial, electrons within the atomic structure of Topaz can be removed from their normal sites. Some electrons are bounced around, eventually coming to rest in a vacant part of the atomic structure called a trap. Electrons in specific traps absorb a certain range of light wavelengths, the visible color that you see is the color that is not absorbed by these trapped electrons.

Naturally occurring ‘Colorless,’ or ‘White,’ Topaz takes a very high polish and is wonderfully clear and transparent. A relative new comer to the Topaz family is Mystic Topaz, which is produced by taking ‘Colorless’ Topaz and applying a thin layer of titanium oxide via physical vapor deposition. This process is similar to the method used in coating camera lenses, and produces an iridescent effect across the gems surface. Mystic Topaz, coming in a wide variety of colored nuances, is extremely popular and one of the most successful colored gemstones available today.

Topaz crystallizes from fluorine-bearing vapor in last stages of solidification of igneous rocks. In mineralogical terms it is a silicate of aluminum and fluorine denoted by the chemical formula Al2SiO4(F,OH)2. It is found in association with granite rocks, within pegmatite veins and in secondary concentrations such as streambed alluvial deposits.

Topaz crystals form in the rhombic system of crystallization, and its crystals are prismatic. Topaz possesses a perfect basal cleavage; therefore gems should be handled with care. Despite this fact, Topaz is one of the hardest minerals known to man attaining an 8 out of 10 on the Moh’s hardness scale, second only to corundum and diamond. Most Topaz is transparent to translucent with a vitreous glass-like luster. However, naturally occurring Pink and Red Topaz is often included due to the presence of the impurity chromium. These pink colored Topazes are so rare that the inclusions are, much like with ruby, tolerated and even valued as identifying fingerprints.

Topaz is sourced from the mines of Ouro Preto and Minas Gerais in Brazil, the Ural and Ilmen Mountains in Russia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Czech Republic, Saxony, Norway, Sweden, Japan, Mexico and the United States.

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Written for SilverShake, an online retailer of topaz silver jewelry and sterling silver jewelry at wholesale prices. Purchase today and get silver jewelry worth up to $60...Free!