Introducing the exciting new member of our gemstone collection: the imperial topaz!

The imperial topaz is also known as ‘precious topaz’, as it is the most sought-after and rarest  natural topaz. It represents less than 0.5% percent of facet-grade topaz found in the market!

Although it has been traditionally considered to be orange in colour, it is now usually described as yellow, pink or pink-orange/red. The pink-red colour is the rarest natural variety and consequently, the most expensive. Below you can see one of the pink-orange samples from our collection:

According to GIA, “the pink topaz, often called rose topaz, resembles a pink diamond or a bright pink sapphire. Pink topaz has certain advantages over these two gems. It’s much less expensive than pink diamond, and it’s often available in larger sizes than either diamond or sapphire”.

Imperial topaz can be distinguished from other orange and pink gems by its hardness, which is an 8 on the Mohs scale. Tourmaline, for instance, is softer, and ruby is a harder gem. However,  you can say that topaz is a scratch-resistant gem. Regarding to its clarity, Imperial topaz is a high-pure gem that is transparent to translucent, and it tends to be ‘eye-clean’ (meaning that no imperfections can be seen with the naked eye).  

  There is no single established cut for the imperial topaz. You can find it in a great variety of shapes. We started our collection with ovals (in the pic), pears, princess and square cuts, but many more varieties are coming soon.

 Imperial topaz got its name from its original source in Russia, where it was named after the Russian royal family in the seventeenth century. Although there are still some deposits in the Russian Urals, the city of Ouro Preto in Brazil is now the only place where imperial topaz is commercially mined.

Ouro Preto

The former colonial town of Ouro Preto is located in the Southeast of Brazil, in the Minas Gerais region, where Gemstones Brazil comes from! The fabulous city holds historical significance as a centre of government, and it was the site of Brazil’s first independence movement against the Portuguese in 1789. It is also famous for its historical mining school, the Escola de Minas, and for its many mineral deposits of gold, hematite, dolomite, tourmaline, pyrite, muscovite, topaz and – of course – imperial topaz. It is now a prominent tourist destination in Brazil due to its well-preserved colonial architecture, and it is known as a centre for education and the arts.

 It sits at the feet of the Serra do Espinhaço mountain range, and has a steeper topography than any other historical town in Minas. Its crooked, narrow streets are very charming, but in many places they are too difficult for vehicles to traverse. Travelling the steep cobblestone streets can be tiring, but can offer a beautiful panorama of the hilly city, including its twenty-three churches.

Our Visit to Ouro Preto 

Recently, Gemstones Brazil’s founder, Maira, travelled to Ouro Preto with her mother and daughter to enjoy the wonders and history of the city and to visit the local imperial topaz producers.