Topaz, one of many gem stones for the month of November, is a tough silicate steel consisting of aluminum and fluorine hydroxide, rating at an eight on the Mohs Hardness Scale. This hardness makes it appropriate for day by day put on with a reasonably excessive resistance to scratching. Whereas it could be generally recognized to be a yellow or orange colour, often known as “valuable topaz,” it is truly a colorless stone. Nevertheless, its impurities in its crystal construction may also trigger it to naturally flip into any colour in an array of hues comparable to inexperienced, violet, pink, purple, or blue tones, per Farmers’ Almanac.

The gemstone’s title is alleged to be derived from the Sanskrit phrase, “tapas,” which interprets to “hearth.” It is usually believed that the phrase topaz comes from “Topazios,” the Greek title for the Egyptian island within the Purple Sea often known as St. John’s Island. The phrase topaz was truly assigned to any stone discovered within the yellow or orange colour. As a result of topaz is colorless or quite a lot of colours, different gem stones in that colour have been mistaken as topaz. Some folks consider topaz was mined on this island way back to Historical Egypt, when Cleopatra’s inexperienced emeralds have been confused for topaz, however there was no proof to counsel it was mined there. Historians consider Cleopatra’s inexperienced gem stones could have truly been peridot. It wasn’t till 1737 when real topaz was present in Germany (by way of Gemporia).