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Topaz is a hard and transparent gem. Topaz is a compound of aluminum, silica, and flourite. Topaz is extremely hard though extremely breakable, having a strong cleavage. Most topaz crystals are white or blue. These are often large, including thousands of carats. The only thing that makes topaz more valuable is the quality. Topaz is often irradiated to improve the gem's color. Blue topaz is sometimes sold as aquamarine, and brown quartz as topaz. Topaz may have been named for the legendary Topasos Island in the Red Sea.
Al2SiO4(F OH)3 - Aluminum Silicate Fluoride Hydroxide
Class:
Subclass:
Colorless, blue, yellow, gray, white, greenish, pinkish, red
White
Vitreous
Transparent to translucent
3.6
8
Good
Uneven
Perfect prismatic to tabular crystals, radial, and columnar arregates, granular
None
Frequency:
Uncommon
Origin:
Magmatic in pegmatites and granites; hydrothermal in greisens, in rhyolite cavities, in quartz veins, also in placers.

Occurence:
Minas Gerais, Brazil; Pikes Peak, Colorado, USA; Pakistan; Namibia; Thomas Range, Utah, USA; Mexico
Application:

 
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