True topaz or yellow topaz is the most typical variety, and no adjectives are needed to describe its color, although different shades are referred to as “golden topaz” or “sherry topaz”.



Appearance:
The color can range from golden to honey yellow or can be golden brown or honey with a pink or reddish tinge. The crystals are usually cut into oval gems but pear and other mainly elongated shapes are also produced, usually with a crown and pavilion consisting of very many small lozenge-shaped facets, which bring out the luster of stone. The longer stone often look darker at the ends. Easy basal cleavage make these gems rather brittle, so they should be treated with care and protected from the type of sharp blows to which ring stones are susceptible. Medium-large stones are relatively common, and even very large ones are not real.



Distinctive features:
A great deal of citrine quartz, which looks fairly similar, is sold under the name of topaz or topaz citrine, creating some confusion in the market. The color of topaz is, however, generally much warmer and more likely to have an orange or pinkish tone. The stone will also have a greater luster. In any event, a quick check of the density, perhaps using one of the heavy liquids, would immediately distinguish between the two, and measurement of the refractive indices would remove all trace of the doubt.



Occurrence:
Topaz comes mainly from brazil, and in smaller quantities from soviet union, Japan, Sri Lanka, Burma and the USA. It is occasionally found in Germany.



Value:
Well colored, medium-large specimens of the true topaz are quite valuable, but perhaps less so today than in the past, roughly on par with secondary gemstones, such as the better tourmaline. It has probably from the ready availability of the citrine quartz, and inferior stone, which, by usurping the name, has made topaz seen more abundant then it really is.



Simulants and Synthetics:
The main problem is the practice of passing citrine quartz off as topaz. Synthetic corundum of a color similar to topaz has also been produced by the way of imitation, whereas topaz itself has also been synthesized on a limited scale for scientific purposes, and is not found on the market.