In his satirical etching of 1800, Hearts for the year 1800, Thomas Rowlandson depicts seven ladies each wearing a heart-shaped gemstone necklace; the caption accompanying the figure wearing topaz presents the stone as ‘a golden heart, a rich city widow at your service’ – and, it is perhaps a rich red-orange which most readily springs to mind when one considers topaz.
Topaz is allochromatic, meaning that imperfections and impurities in its structure cause it to present in many colours – in this case, from white, to yellow, orange, reddish-brown and through to blue. The rarest and finest topaz are natural pinks, reds and golden orange in colour, the last often with pinkish hues. The intense natural golden to reddish-orange topaz found in the famed Ouro Preto area of Minas Gerais, Brazil, are known as imperial topaz, although the title was first given in the 19th century to the topaz found in the Ural Mountains, the ownership of which was restricted to the Russian Imperial Family. Blue topaz resembles aquamarine and its colour is invariably improved artificially. White topaz along with other uncoloured stones, but not diamonds, is fairly inexpensive and can give a lovely bright addition to a jewel. The name topaz was also mistakenly used for many years to describe citrine, an abundant and cheap gemstone, and not be confused with yellow topaz which amongst other qualities has a wonderful return of buttery light when cut advantageously.
Topaz is a hard material, registering 8 on the Mohs scale, where 10 is a diamond which cannot be scratched by any other substance, and so it lends itself to a fine polish.Topaz is found widely throughout the world, namely, Russia, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, the Czech Republic, Germany, Norway, Pakistan, Italy, Sweden, Japan, Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria, the United States and on Australia’s Flinders Island. Brazil is one of the largest producers of topaz, some of the clear crystals found there have been of boulder size and weighing hundreds of pounds.
In his reference work of 1652, ‘A lapidary, or The History of Precious Stones’ Thomas Nicols writes that topaz is of ‘such excellent faculties…it is said of it, that it freeth men from passions and from sadnesse of the mind…this stone is so hard that it will endure the file, and it groweth into so great a masse, that oft times statues have been made of it’. Over the centuries topaz was frequently used in decorative items of jewellery and with its pure, clean appearance and reputation for goodness it was often deployed in the ceremonial rings worn by cardinals and bishops. From the Renaissance and for a period of around 200 years the abundant and affordable topaz flourished as the gem of choice for pendants and rings, and as the cutting and setting of stones advanced oval and cushion shaped golden and brown topaz were often used with diamonds in stomachers and bodice brooches.
Brazil’s precious metals and gemstone rush kicked off in the last years of the 17th century and by the mid-1750s the shipping of fine quality crystal specimens to Lisbon and Porto for cutting and setting was an established practice. A wide range of jewellery was produced during this era, including long earrings which extended down to the shoulders of the wearer. Inevitably 18th century jewellery is rare and examples don’t often appear at auction.
Whilst silver became the metal of choice for diamond jewellery through the 18th century, gold was used extensively for coloured gemstone mounting and the gentle colours of topaz were well suited to this material as well as meeting the taste of the era for sentimentality and romanticism. Parures and rivières were particularly popular, and topaz could meet these designs’ demand for large quantities of pretty gemstones.
Into the Victorian age, topaz was still prevalent and seen in large diamond-set gold brooches and rings. Fabergé, along with other leading jewellers in the early 20th century incorporated topaz into their jewels, notably pieces inspired by jewellery of the Regency period. Then, further into the century as Art Deco became all the rage, bold gems such as ruby, sapphire and emerald took the spotlight, with their strong, vivid colours they worked well with the architectural, structured pieces characteristic of the 1920s. The colour palette of the 1930s changed to incorporate the lighter utilitarian blues, purples and yellow-browns of aquamarine, amethyst and citrine; a reaction to the 1929 economic crash and global mood of the decade. These cheaper gem materials leant themselves well to the larger and plentiful stones used in the big, bold designs of these later Art Deco years. Sadly, topaz rather drops off the map in terms of its use from this time and topaz in its yellow, orange and pink variety are little seen in jewellery design from the early 20th century. These varieties are most definitely due a revival and would make a wonderful gem to seek out at antique jewellery sales. They are sought after by those ‘in the know’, with fine examples commanding bullish prices, but to win, say, a single stone ring of luscious orangey topaz or a pair of earrings with the distinctive buttery golden yellow can give such pleasure to wearer and watcher alike. For deeper pockets a rivière necklace would be the holy grail!
For those who love the other end of the rainbow – blue topaz has seen increasing use over the last 40 years or so, being an affordable coloured gemstone and alternative to aquamarine. There have been treatment developments achieving different tones and hues including the bright vivid sky blue of ‘Swiss’ topaz and the deeper darker blue of ‘London’ topaz.
Topaz provides a range of colours to suit all tastes and all pockets.
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