Only available secondhand!
 The gemstone with the living light.
 Large crystals and vibrant colors: Topaz is a feast for the eyes for collectors and a wonderful gemstone for opulent jewelry. Individual crystals weighing up to 300 kilograms have been found, and faceted gemstones up to 36,853 carats have been discovered!
 Topaz deposits are scattered across the globe, and every continent boasts unique specimens: from the Fichtel Mountains and the Saxon topaz rocks, through the Urals and the Himalayas, to Japan; from Utah in North America to Ouoro Preto in South America. A beautiful topaz specimen is a must-have for any collection. The world's most important topaz deposits are described here.
 The gemology of topaz is a highly diverse chapter in gemology. This monograph reports on the characteristics of topaz, the origin of its colors and other important gemological facts, characteristic inclusions of topaz from various origins, and modern methods for changing the color of topaz from colorless to bright blue.

 Contents :
 The word "Topaz"/Topaz at a glance. Properties and physical data of topaz (Dietmar Schwarz)/Mineralogy, geology, gemology/The most important mining areas and deposits for gemstone topaz. Formation and classification of the deposits. Topaz properties and structure/The significance of impurities. Faceted giants, syntheses, prices, the great splendor of colors and their causes. Colors through color centers, irradiation and detection of irradiation, color change through heating/The interior. Inclusions in gemstone topaz and their significance: other minerals as guests in topaz (Eduard Gübelin, Dietmar Schwarz)/The shell stone. The history of the Schneckenstein topaz rock, a monument to gemstone history: The first Central European topaz finds originated there, and the first gemstone monograph was written about them (Heiner Vollstädt, Bernd Lahl)/Russian Topazes, 1855. Nikolai Ivanovich Koksharov from St. Petersburg: the original 1855 description of what are probably the most important classic topaz-bearing regions: the Urals, the Ilmen Mountains, and Borshchovochnoi/Brazil. Topaz finds in the eastern and western Brazilian tin belt, above all Ouro Preto (Dietmar Schwarz)/Karakoram-Himalayas. Current situation of the topaz deposits in the Karakoram (Andreas Weerth)/Topaz Rhyolite in Utah. The Thomas Range and the other topaz deposits in Utah (Lanny R. Ream)/St. St. Annes, Zimbabwe. The St. Annes pegmatite, which yielded tons of blue topaz. Description of the finds and explanation of its significance (Jan Kanis) / From Saxony to Mars. The most important topaz deposits in the world (Rupert Hochleitner) / The Magnificent Ones. The extraLapis Topaz Gallery. The most beautiful topazes in the world, selected from the vast array of internationally significant finds: magnificent topazes from major museums and private collections (Walter Gabriel, Waltraud Harre, Rupert Hochleitner, Jürgen Karpinsky, Erika van Pelt, Jeff Scovil) / Topaz Literature: Current topaz articles from the international specialist press and from Lapis (Karl Fischer).

 With cover, 100 pages in lapis format (21 x 30 cm). Published: 1997