[Jewelry making - Article 00033] - Re: [Orchid] Natural blue topaz?

[Peter W . Rowe]

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>     Hi All, Is there or was there ever natural blue topaz?  I was under
>     the impression that it was all treated but a friend swears she has
>     "natural" blue topaz. 

    Natural blue topaz is not, of course, as common as the treated.  And
    in color, most of what I've seen is light blue, similar to decent
    aquamarine in tone and saturation, rather than the more intense and
    darker versions common in the treated.    I've still got a couple
    from Texas, that I bought almost 20 years ago, and another, locality
    not sure, but which I think is from colorado. But when I first got
    into gems and jewelery, the treated material was not yet prevalent,
    and blue topaz was certainly then available. 

    Keep in mind that almost any process you can devise in a lab to
    treat natural material to another color, has probably also somewhere
    occured in nature... 

    A problem with natural blue topaz is proving that it is indeed
    natural.  The treatment doesn't leave obvious traces in the pale
    colors that are also what is commonly seen in the natural color, so
    now, unless one knows for sure that a particular stone is natural,
    one has to usually just assume it's treated. But I have to assume that
    some of the light blue material for sale today may also still be
    natural, even if not labeled as such. 

Peter

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