Help with imperial topaz

[EddieRabbit]

 

[EddieRabbit]

I'm looking for value...appraisal was done quite a few years ago. Did the value of this stone go up or down? Thank you for any input!

 

[LilAlex]

Welcome!

That's an appraisal -- it describes the stuff that's easy to measure, but not necessarily the stuff that's key to assigning value. You would need a report from a reputable lab to establish authenticity and absence of treatment.

Assuming it is real topaz and untreated, then the value depends upon the hue and intensity, the quality of the cut, the clarity, and a modest premium for a matched pair. I can not gauge any of that from the photo. (Well, I assume there are really two of them.)

Note that appraisal values are all over the map and can be many times higher than what one would expect to pay. Most B&M stores give appraisals at 2X what they just sold the item for and some are even 4X (in part so you think you got a bargain). In reality, you are just setting yourself up for an equally inflated insurance premium if you schedule them on your homeowner's policy. And if they are stolen, they will be replaced with any cheap topaz that fit these general criteria. So: you can find a contemporary appraiser who will come back with a higher number than your c1999 $3600 -- especially if you bring in the old appraisal -- but it does not tell you what they are truly "worth" on the open market. And even if a respected vendor could expect a certain price on a commercial e-retailing platform, if you were to try to sell them as a private seller (i.e., as some rando on eBay), you would get pennies on the dollar anyway.

 

[EddieRabbit]

Thank you for your reply! How much would a lab report cost and where to send it? Any help would be appreciated as I am in need of some quick funds

 

[Avondale]

I believe this thread will be useful to you: https://www.pricescope.com/communit...9ct-untreated-imperial-precious-topaz.277476/

Although I usually subscribe to the “get a lab report” philosophy, I don’t think I would recommend it here. Topaz treatment, from my understanding, cannot be reliably detected, so even if you were to send your stones to GIA, they wouldn’t be able to confirm whether your topaz is untreated. I’ll tag @Autumn in New England as she is quite knowledgeable and can give you more reliable info.

I agree with @LilAlex that the appraisal value you were given with the report is most likely unrealistic and at least double the actual value of the stones.

People here will be able to help you more if you take the stones out of the boxes and take and post some nice pictures of them. There’s an inherent connection between beauty and value in the coloured stone world. Lab reports are merely accompanying documentation.

 

[Autumn in New England]

So, color nuances can make a big difference... I prefer the golden-orange imperial shades. But those with red or pink usually carry higher premiums. However, low saturation, brown, or overly dark stones really devalue the material. So if these are brown heavy, you need to consider that. Naturally, clarity, cut, and weight will also play a part.

@Avondale is correct... labs will not certify topaz as untreated. You would need to trust your vendor. I bought the flame-shaped one from JTV, which listed it as untreated. GIA would not certify it as such, because they cannot tell if any heat or irradiation was applied by the earth or man. I bought my second (current) one from Lockwood and Sloane. They have a stake in the Ouro Preto mine, and I trust them implicitly when they say they only sell untreated material. Anyway, I think only "coating" would really devalue the material as far as treatments are concerned, and that is something upon which a lab could comment.

But, yeah, I couldn't really give you a ballpark figure based on the info provided. That's why I didn't comment earlier. Good luck on the sale!

Vendor photo:


My photo:


Vendor video:

 

[PrecisionGem]

To answer the OP question, the value of imperial topaz has gone up.

I have an older price guide from 2011 and in your size, the price ranges from $100 per ct to $1100 per ct. In todays price guide the range is $350 to $2400.

You can see it's a pretty broad range, and it all depends on the quality of the stone as far as color cut and clarity.

Here are color samples for the range of Imperial Topaz. The top color would be marked GEM, followed by AAA and AA and AA.

I don't think it would do you any good to send the stone to a lab, all they are going to tell you is yes it's topaz. Since treatments can not be detected, actually there is no price difference for heated or not.

Matched pairs usually command a 15% price increase over single stones.

I think if you were to purchase the same stones today, from the same source you could safely assume you would pay at least twice as much, maybe more.

 

[toomuchB]

This retailer has some pairs in the more yellowish color range with minimal pink, on the low end of estimated pricing. The pinkish ones are a lot more. Might help understanding the visual difference brought up here at least.

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[EddieRabbit]

 

[PrecisionGem]

The first question always is what did you pay for them.

 

[EddieRabbit]

The first question always is what did you pay for them.

I didn't pay anything for them. Passed down to me along with other stones that I have no idea what they are...

 

[fredflintstone]

This report is not right, or I should say an appraisal.

Look at the color grading. How can a stone have 50% moderate yellowish orange/10% brown mask/60% slightly reddish orange? That equals 110%. Brown is dark orange. The appraiser just should have written (brownish).

In my opinion from the pictures, I seen (not on the appraisal), this would not qualify as Imperial Topaz but Precious Topaz.

Yes, it is true, labs cannot tell if a Topaz is treated or not. Of course, we all know Swiss and London blue Topaz is irradiated.

I would not waste the money on a lab report.

 

[fredflintstone]

This report is not right, or I should say an appraisal.

Look at the color grading. How can a stone have 50% moderate yellowish orange/10% brown mask/60% slightly reddish orange? That equals 110%. Brown is dark orange. The appraiser just should have written (brownish).

In my opinion from the pictures, I seen (not on the appraisal), this would not qualify as Imperial Topaz but Precious Topaz.

Yes, it is true, labs cannot tell if a Topaz is treated or not. Of course, we all know Swiss and London blue Topaz is irradiated.

I would not waste the money on a lab report.

Excuse my math. That equals 120% and 110% without the brownish mask that is supposedly 10%.

 

[Autumn in New England]

You've got to get out from under this extremely yellow/warm lighting. Take some photos under natural daylight (near a window or outside in the shade). It will help tremendously with capturing an accurate representation of the color.

 

[VividRed]

Hello!

I won’t beat around the bush. They look pretty poor in quality. The color - which might suffer from the lighting you used to take the pictures - is not what one expects from imperial topaz. And the cut is really bad, both stones have very large windows that essentially make them colorless in the middle.

Since you didn’t spend any money on them, I hope you won’t take this the wrong way: do not waste your money on a GIA report, I doubt you will be able to sell them for more than what the report (incl. shipping) would cost you…or sell them at all. The appraisal value is not what you can reasonably expect to fetch selling them.

I am sorry, this is probably not what you wanted to read

 

[PrecisionGem]

Taking a guess at the actual color, based on the photo, this is what I come up with using GemePrice.