Sterling Silver Jewelry: The Origins Of Topaz

The 300 B.C. translation of the Old Testament featured a gemstone called ‘Topazion,’ which appeared in Exodus and the breastplate of Aaron, this gem was in fact peridot. The later 1611 A.D. ‘King James Version’ of the Old Testament, translated ‘Topazion’ as ‘Topaz.’ However, at the time of the 1611 translation, ‘Topaz’ was used to denote any yellow colored gemstone, irrespective of the different chemical properties. Although these texts give us proof of Topaz’s ancient etymology, they don’t give us the answer to where and when the Topaz that we know today was first discovered.

The Renaissance, beginning in the late 14th century, spelt a revival in classical Greece, Rome and the preceding cultures of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. These archaic cultures based many of their fundamental idea systems around the precursor of modern science: Alchemy. By today’s standards, alchemy is regarded as a mystic, esoteric, and slightly immoral art. The tainted public image of alchemy is due in part to later religious propaganda, and elitist secret societies formed around alchemy such as the Rosicruianism (pictured right) and the Free Masons.

In spite of this, we owe the discovery of many substances and processes that are the mainstay of modern physical, chemical, biological knowledge to alchemists. Where would we be without Isaac Newton, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Boyle, Bacon and Thomas Browne: all devoted alchemists. Alchemists were the high priests of the ‘Modern Age’ transforming the artistic, scientific, religious and political landscape of Europe. They provided the framework for a grand new design of understanding, based on rational materialism: Modern science. In 1669, Rasmus Bartholin discovered the double refraction of light rays in calcite, prompting Thomas Young to propose the theory that different light sources travel in waves at different frequencies. With the advent of these more exacting processes, mineralogy became more defined, and the true nature of a mineral was understood more by its chemical composition and crystalline form than its external characteristics.

Later, at the beginning of the 17th Century, the German mineralogist and director of mines at Freiberg in Saxony, Johann Friedrich Henckel published a book of his teachings. Writing on the chemical properties of minerals in his book ‘Pyritologie.’ Henckel was the first to recognize Topaz, as the mineral that we know today. Henckel sourced his Topaz from the deposits of Schneckenstein, in the Voigtland of Saxony in East Germany. This was the most important source of Topaz up until the 1730 discovery of deposits in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerias. Henckels Topaz was further identified and assayed by Andreas Marggraf who in 1776 wrote the book ‘Findings on the Topaz of Saxony.’ Marggraf was the director of Physics at the Berlin Academy, where he had become famous for numerous discoveries including formic acid, he had also learnt assaying alongside Henckel in Freiberg.

The following excerpt, taken from ‘Findings on the Topaz of Saxony,’ gives an overview of Henckel and Marggraf’s Topaz: “This gem is found in the “Vogtland’, on the ‘Schneckenberg’ near the hills of the ‘Tonneberg’ two miles from ‘Auerbach’: We see quite a lot of it in the deep fissures of a very hard rock, and it is found mixed with a type of yellow schist and quartz. The interior structure/texture is compact but with thin leaf-like layers, which this gem has in common with diamond. It has a prismatic structure at four unequal angles, it is hard with a bright sparkle.”

There can be little question that this description corresponds to the Topaz of today, which is found in association with granite rocks, within pegmatite veins and in association with schist rocks. Topaz’s crystals form in the rhombic system of crystallization, and are prismatic in shape. Topaz possesses a perfect basal cleavage, and is ‘foliated’ (leaf like layers) which makes it brittle if cut in the wrong direction. In spite of this Topaz is one of the hardest minerals known to man, second only to corundum and diamond. Most Topaz is transparent to translucent with a vitreous glass-like luster, exhibiting strong brilliance.

Towards the end of the 1700’s numerous mineral substances were
analyzed by Scheele, Kiaproth, Vauquelin, Kirwan, Berzelius, Rose
and other chemists, and many new mineral-species and chemical elements discovered. In 1819, the principles of differentiation between isomorphic and dimorphic crystal structures were expressed by E. Mitscherlich, who dispelled the many difficulties encountered in defining different mineral species. Later in 1820, classing a mineral’s characteristics became even more precise with Frederich Mohs scale of 1-10 hardness, starting with Talc: 1, and ending with Diamond: 10. All these different systems of mineral classification gave birth to the exactitude of modern mineralogy, by which we determine a gems identity.

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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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An Introduction To The Definition And Etymology Of Silver

Ancient Incas believed the Moon to shed tears of it, the Shetland Celts thought the northern lights contained threads of it and the early Pacific islanders of the Southern hemisphere alleged that all the stars in the heavens were composed of it.

Silver, second only to gold as a popular symbol of status and wealth, is one of the most romantic and sought after of all the precious metals captivating mankind with its lustrous beauty from the beginning of time.

Silver has called to man, compelling him to search out its superior properties, to the most distant and treacherous corners of the globe. In return for silver’s riches man elevated the precious metal amongst the heavens, appropriating its qualities to the Gods, Planets, even naming a country after it: Argentina.

Silver, offering the best value of all precious metals, has seen ages come and go. But unlike gold, Silver has gained popularity not just as a item of adornment, but also as man’s best friend, lending its superior strength, malleability and ductility to a thousand and one purposes: Photography, Money, Health, Transport, Communication, Utility…

Silver (Sil-ver) n: A precious metal with the highest thermal and electrical conductivity of all metals used in a variety of purities in the production of jewelry, tableware, photography and coins.

In its purest form this lustrous metal, like gold, is very soft. For this reason Silver is usually alloyed with other metals such as copper, as is the case in sterling silver jewelry, to make it more robust.

• Fine Silver: 99.9% Silver.



• Thai Karen Hill-Tribe Silver: 99.5% Silver.



• Britannia Silver: 95.84% Silver with up to 4.16% copper.



• Mexican Silver: Usually 95% Silver and 5% Copper.



• Sterling Silver Jewelry: 92.5% Silver, with copper making up the remaining 7.5%.

Silver is a chemical element denoted on the periodic table by the symbol ‘Ag’. In etymological terms this symbol is derived from the early Proto-Indo-European language root word ‘Arg'- meaning ‘White’, or ‘To shine’. This root word is found in ancient:

· Greek – Argos.
· Latin – Argentums.
· Celtic – Argent.
· Sanskrit – Arjuna.

The only languages that lacked this root are the Germano-Balto-Slavic languages that used another stem for Silver thought to be based on a river in Lycia, modern day Turkey:

· Slavic – Sirebro.
· Baltic – Silabr.
· Germanic – Silbr.

The Germanic, or Teutonic, word is the root of the Anglo-Saxon branch word of ‘Silver’ used today.

Read The Etymology Of Sterling

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