One of the most historically-cited gemstones, topaz can come in a variety of colors including blue, orange, yellow, red, pink, blue, and clear. While blue topaz is the most popular, the golden-yellow imperial topaz is quite rare and remains the most sought after variety.
A hard, durable gemstone, topaz is most likely named after its first place of origin – the ancient island of Topazos in the Red Sea. Orange topaz is the birthstone for November, but many colors can be achieved through treatment processes like irradiation and heating.
Topaz is found all over the world, including the famous Ural mountains of Russia, Sri Lanka, Germany, Japan, Brazil, Italy, Australia, and others. Sometimes, topaz can be found in giant-sized deposits – a recent find in the United States measured in at nearly 23,000 carats.