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Thread: Warning : Hydro Topaz

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Amsterdam
    Posts
    260

    Exclamation Warning : Hydro Topaz

    Just want to give you guys the heads up, I am seeing a lot of so call hydro topaz on ebay.

    This one said Hydro topaz on the packet when it arrived, but was just declared as "treated". What made me suspicious was the concave cut which seems to be a common trend, though not exclusively.

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    Topaz is one of the most common mineral so synthetics are not worth the effort and generally not manufactured, so my interest was immediately sparked.

    The Hydro Thermal techniques is used to grow beryls and quartz( most so called "green amethyst" is this material) green quartz does exist but is general pale.

    Anyway back to topaz, Topaz is generally natural, but more often that not treated ( this does not affect the commercial value) mostly blues are created, but pink can occur.

    What is not generally regarded as acceptable is coatings. These rub off in time and are not regarded as permanent. Most common are pink and so called mystic.

    So what is thus blue hydro topaz? Well all the samples i have seen have an ri of 1.5 and show no reaction in a Polariscope, meaning they are not crystalline !

    Diagnosis : Blue Glass
    Last edited by Julian; 03-11-2012 at 11:22 AM.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Posts
    94

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    Thank you for your warning! I personally found myself being disappointed when I was buying any jewellery suppliers via ebay. I know hat in some cases it is cheaper to buy from there, but after all the problems I am more than happy to pay a little bit more and have what I want...
    Babette

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    Central London
    Posts
    8,845

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    Well, that's why we have you Julian, to sort the wheat from the chaff. Dennis.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    yate,bristol
    Posts
    137

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Dennis View Post
    Well, that's why we have you Julian, to sort the wheat from the chaff. Dennis.
    here here.
    Could it be from a Bombay sapphire bottle????hehe

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Posts
    6

    Default

    Nice info Julian, there is a lot of junk out there. It's all I can do to keep my studies up to make sure I'm not buying Bombay Sapphire Bottles, or more importantly - selling it!

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