How Is Mystic Topaz Made?
"Mystic topaz" is a trade name for a type of enhanced clear topaz, but the process is being used more and more often in the jewelry industry. New technology allows for more thorough doctoring of topaz to produce different effects using several different methods. Also, the increased availability of the stones has raised interest in them, especially among those who are not able to afford a true topaz.
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Definition
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Mystic topaz is a topaz that is doctored to give it a different appearance. True topaz is already colored and is highly prized, depending on the shade and richness of the color, especially the gold and amber varieties. Mystic topaz attempts to mimic the same colors by taking stones of lesser quality and subjecting them to processes that alter their outer layers. Mystic topaz can be green, blue, yellow or red. The golden versions are known as mystic fire topaz.
Colorless Topaz
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Mystic topaz starts with a colorless topaz stone, a type of quartz that does not have the other elements that give the topaz its natural color. These gemstones are also known as "white" topaz and are mined in a similar manner to regular topaz, except they tend to be much more common and therefore easier to treat.
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Lining Materials
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The materials that are used in mystic topaz vary. Different materials produce different colors. Titanium is bonded to the crystalline structure to make fire topaz, one of the most common types. Other metals like chromium are also used.
Process
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The minerals are not bonded to the surface layer of the topaz to create the many different colors available. Instead, the particles are dispersed through the surface and pavilion, a layer just below the immediate surface of the stone, by a process called "physical vapor deposition." It is conducted inside a vacuum to draw the particles into the crystalline structure.
Blue Mystic Topaz
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Blue mystic topaz does not use metallic elements like the other colors do. Instead, a laser is used to irradiate the surface layers of the gem and then heat the quartz elements, which causes the topaz to become blue in color, at least at the surface. The effect is long-lasting, but not permanent and can be scratched off.
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References
- Photo Credit ring topaz flower image by Tatyana Parfyonova from Fotolia.com
