New member

[paleomike]

Hi

let''s try this again without breaking the rules!

My name is Michael, and I am a new member residing in Canada.

I am a gemologist, as well as a fossil dealer.

There appears to be a lot of interesting discussion on all aspects of gemology going on here, and I really look forward to being a part of it!

Here''s a photo I hope all of you may enjoy....it''s a 21.49 carat Imperial topaz from Brazil.

 

[strmrdr]

Welcome to PS!
Nice topaz

 

[suzannecallison]

Welcome! You will be a valuable addition.

Very nice stone.

Suzanne

 

[leggs]

Always nice to know other Canadians on here.Welcome Mike and great Topaz!!

 

[Richard Sherwood]

I can see we''re going to enjoy having you around, Mike.

Great stone. I appraised one very similar last week, which was from Ouro Preto in Minas Gerais, Brazil.

 

[paleomike]

Thanks for the compliment! How large was the stone you appraised?

 

[widget]

Beautiful stone, Paleomike!

This thread leads me to a question: Mike, Richard...are beautiful reddish, pinkish, imperial topazes (topii?

) usually heat treated? Or do they come out of the ground that way?

Thanks!

widget

 

[coolguynamek]

Welcome Michael, to gems discussion. How long you have been in to gems?
Its really very nice topaz to see !!


coolguy

 

[Art Nouveau]

Tha''s a gorgeous stone. On a recent trip to the Amazon River, I bought a 3.68 carat Imperial topaz from Amsterdam Sauer in Manaus, Brazil. The color is more salmon than yours, but the saturation is about the same. How much are these stones worth? I paid ~ $1000 per carat. It''s probably too much as I was there as a tourist. Most of the stones I have seen in the US are more brownish and much lighter in tone.

 

[paleomike]

This imperial topaz is worth about $2000 per carat. for a 3 carat stone, I think you paid a little much....maybe halfway in between retail and wholesale. The price discrepancy between a 3 carat and a 20+ carat stone, obviously, is due to the size. If you had that colour stauration in a small stone like that, then you were fortunate! I have quite a few smaller stones here, and the vast majority of them are like most of the other imperial topaz you see in the market...usually yellows. I just sold a very nice 5.33 carat antique for $400 p/ct that was a VERY nice apricot orange....

I am 37 years old right now, and I have been both learning and collecting stones for over 30 years.....seems like a VERY long time!!

The topaz that I posted the pic of was bought in the 1970''s directly out of Ouero Preto....at that time, my partner was buying large amounts of stones and squirreling away for himself the best material...he has some stones over 50 carats! Unbelievable material!!!

I''ll see if I can find some pics of some of the other orangy and pinkish stones

Michael

:]

 

[paleomike]

This imperial topaz is worth about $2000 per carat. for a 3 carat stone, I think you paid a little much....maybe halfway in between retail and wholesale. The price discrepancy between a 3 carat and a 20+ carat stone, obviously, is due to the size. If you had that colour stauration in a small stone like that, then you were fortunate! I have quite a few smaller stones here, and the vast majority of them are like most of the other imperial topaz you see in the market...usually yellows. I just sold a very nice 5.33 carat antique for $400 p/ct that was a VERY nice apricot orange....

I am 37 years old right now, and I have been both learning and collecting stones for over 30 years.....seems like a VERY long time!!

The topaz that I posted the pic of was bought in the 1970''s directly out of Ouero Preto....at that time, my partner was buying large amounts of stones and squirreling away for himself the best material...he has some stones over 50 carats! Unbelievable material!!!

I''ll see if I can find some pics of some of the other orangy and pinkish stones

Michael

:]

 

[paleomike]

here is a pic of that 5.68 antique I just sold.....not the greatest of photos, but it''s fairly accurate

Michael

 

[Art Nouveau]

Here is my imperial topaz. What do you think of the color?

 

[Colored Gemstone Nut]

Date: 12/11/2004 6

5:42 PM
Author: Art Nouveau
Here is my imperial topaz. What do you think of the color?

Paleomike''s topaz is more a shade of peachy Orange to medium Orange...Other hues include reddish Orange with sherry Red, deep Pink, and reddish Orange. Your stone looks to be a beatiful salmon or light sherry color...

 

[paleomike]

a friend of mine has a 50ct + stone.....deep pink, flawless. it may very well be the largest, cleanest pink topaz in the world!

no pics...sorry...

 

[widget]

WOW

Art Nouveau, that stone is beautiful!!!!

I ask again...are these Imperial (precious) topaz ever enhanced?

Here''s my contribution...not as dark as the others, but I like it...

widget

 

[widget]

Well, I''ve answered my own question....I just checked Palagems and Cherrypicked and couldn''t find an Imperial topaz that WASN''T heat treated, including these pretty sparklers...

widget

 

[paleomike]

A lot of the material is heat treated, usually to enhance (not change) the colour. Material can have distinctly reddish hues as it comes out of the ground, but the heat treatment just deepens them. Quite often, some of the oranges will turn pink (I think it is Cr that is altered by the heat treatment turning stones pinkish). some of the larger orangy coloured crystals can have fairly deep red tips.....

 

[Colored Gemstone Nut]

Date: 12/11/2004 8:42:36 PM
Author: paleomike
A lot of the material is heat treated, usually to enhance (not change) the colour. Material can have distinctly reddish hues as it comes out of the ground, but the heat treatment just deepens them. Quite often, some of the oranges will turn pink (I think it is Cr that is altered by the heat treatment turning stones pinkish). some of the larger orangy coloured crystals can have fairly deep red tips.....

Topaz can occur in colorless and brown colors.The most sought after colors is the golden, orange, pink, and red colors which carry the imperial or precious designation. Some of the most sought after pieces being the pinks..

Most blue topaz is produced by a combination of irradiation or heat treatment.

The impurity chromium produces the colors ranging from pink to red. A mixture of 2 different color centers and chromium produces the orangy topaz in the pic Paleomike posted.

(Nice stone Mike)

 

[canuk-gal]

Date: 12/11/2004 7:37:25 PM
Author: widget

WOW

Art Nouveau, that stone is beautiful!!!!

I ask again...are these Imperial (precious) topaz ever enhanced?

Here''s my contribution...not as dark as the others, but I like it...

widget

HI:

Lovely! What is the carat weight--or dimensions or your stone? I have the opportunity to buy a marquise shape of similar color to yours--it is presently set in a pendant in w/g with diamonds.

cheers--Sharon

 

[Art Nouveau]

Hi Widget,

I am having imperial topaz earrings made. The stones are pear shaped, about 3+ carats each, and the color and saturation is very close to yours. I couldn''t find a pair to match the color of the stone I bought in Brazil.

 

[widget]

Sharon! Were you talking to me?? I was so blinded by AN''s topaz, I assumed you were talking to her!

I don''t know the carat weight...I got it years ago before I was interested in such stuff. It''s roughly 14x8mm. Athough not my blingiest ring, it gets the most compliments...maybe because of the E/W setting... What are you planning to do with the marquise? Put it in a ring?

Art Nouveau...I''m not surprised you couldn''t match that beauty!!! It really is unique.

widget

 

[canuk-gal]

Date: 12/12/2004 7

8:18 PM
Author: widget
Sharon! Were you talking to me?? I was so blinded by AN''s topaz, I assumed you were talking to her!

I don''t know the carat weight...I got it years ago before I was interested in such stuff. It''s roughly 14x8mm. Athough not my blingiest ring, it gets the most compliments...maybe because of the E/W setting... What are you planning to do with the marquise? Put it in a ring?

Art Nouveau...I''m not surprised you couldn''t match that beauty!!! It really is unique.

widget

HI W:

Yup, I was talking to you...thanks for the info and again, your ring is very lovely.
The stone is already set into a pendant, tastefully, with some small diamonds and I love the w/g as it does compliment the stone very well; convenient as I find myself wearing w/g more often these days...............

cheers--Sharon

 

[Art Nouveau]

Hi Widget,

Your imperial topaz ring is gorgeous and the setting is quite unique. I am curious, did you by any chance, buy this from Hubert Gems in LA? The design looks like some of Hubert''s.

Art Nouveau

 

[widget]

Hi, Art Nouveau...thanks.

No, I found the stone unmounted in a B&M in Palm Desert, CA. Their benchman did the ring from a quick sketch the store owner drew on the sales slip!

widget

 

[Richard Sherwood]

Date: 12/11/2004 11:34:58 AM
Author: paleomike
Thanks for the compliment! How large was the stone you appraised?

It was a 5.95 carat imperial topaz with strong pink modifier. Top & profile photos attached.

 

[Richard Sherwood]

profile (end on)

 

[Richard Sherwood]

Nice color, eh?

The client wanted to know if the topaz was Brazilian heated or Pakistani non-heated, so I sent it to Marty Haske to run a spectrum analysis on his SAS-2000. Heated material from Ouro Preto in Minas Gerais (Brazil) exhibits a very faint chromium absorption line at 682 in the red. The line is very difficult to pick up with traditional spectroscopes.

Marty's SAS picked up the absorption line, as shown in this photo. Note the tiny dip at 682.

I'd been considering buying the SAS for years, but this impressed me so much I finally put a deposit down on the machine.

He also ran an analysis on a "Paraiba" tourmaline that my client had paid big bucks for. The stone turned out not to have the copper "signature" spectrum pattern that distinguishes Paraiba tourmaline from normal blue green tourmaline (which amounts to thousands of dollars difference in value). Luckily, the client was able to get a refund, using the analysis as leverage.

 

[Art Nouveau]

Hi Richard,

Very nice stone indeed! How much per carat is an imperial topaz this color?

Where I was in Brazil, I saw a pair of small (~1+ carat) fluorescent intense turquoise Paraiba tourmaline. The color was magnificent, but the price was outrageous. Recently, I have seen some dealers selling stones with very pale version of this color without the fluorescent look, as Paraiba tourmaline. Are these African stones? What determines if a bluish green tourmaline is Paraiba or not, the origin, prescence of copper or color saturation?

 

[spinel]

Hopefully it is not so late for me to say a warm welcome to paleomike!

I am Canadian too, living in Montreal but now running from bushes to bushes seeking for gems.
I know nothing about Topaz but one day if you want talking about corrundum, I will be in.

Good skiing season, canadian snow and cross-country skiing missed me a lot.