Topaz

Topaz (sometimes called "precious topaz") is the birthstone for November. Topaz is a fairly common mineral in certain kinds of rocks, and occurs worldwide. Transparent material suitable for cutting, however, is not common. Although the color range includes blue, green, white (colorless), red, brown and yellow, by far the most popular topaz is the yellow-orange to dark orange material that comes from Brazil.

What the gem-buying public does NOT know, however, is that the little town of Ouro Preto in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, is the ONLY locality in which commercially significant deposits of precious topaz are found. No other locality, no other country produces this gemstone. This fact has never affected the market in any significant way because the demand for topaz has largely been centered on smaller stones (1-5 carats) for use in birthstone jewelry. Until the late 1970's there was no significant demand for large, dark colored stones, and it was not realized that the supply of these is extremely limited. Especially rare are the orangy-pink to reddish stones that are only found in 2 of the 4 operating topaz mines at Ouro Preto. Any topaz with a reddish tone is considered top quality and is priced accordingly. Yet even the rarest and finest of all topazes are inexpensive when compared to ruby, sapphire and emerald.

Inflation in Brazil"has increased to rates higher than 100% annually in recent years. Gems are increasingly being used as an inflation hedge within the country, and fewer and fewer top quality stones are being exported. Since topaz is a single-source gemstone, it is easy to speculate that the supply will decrease steadily in the years ahead.

The growing rise of interest in colored gemstones and the fashion industry will create a demand for attractive, inexpensive stones for the marketplace. This will probably create a surge of demand for such gems as golden beryl that will result in steadily rising prices in the years ahead.