Today most topaz offered in department stores and mall jewelry stores at low to moderate prices has been treated in a laboratory. Colorless topaz can be heated, irradiated, and coated with thin layers of metallic oxides to alter its color.

Natural blue topaz is extremely rare and is usually pale blue. Almost all of the blue topaz offered in stores today is colorless topaz that has been irradiated and then heated to produce a blue color. “Swiss blue” and “London blue” are trade names for two of the most common varieties of treated blue topaz seen in today’s market. These colors have caused the popularity of topaz to soar!

Natural pink to purple topaz is also extremely rare, but these colors can be produced in a laboratory as well. The starting point is a stone cut from colorless topaz. It is first heated and then coated with a layer of metallic oxide to produce the pink color. If coated stones are worn in jewelry, over time the coating can wear thin or wear through at points on the stone where abrasion occurs.

Some topaz is coated with a metallic oxide that gives the stone a multicolored iridescent luster. These stones, known as “mystic topaz,” appear to change color if the observer moves the stone under a light or changes the angle of observation. These coatings are also thin and can be worn through during normal wear.