WHAT IS THIS?WHAT A GEM!
This is an enormous cut topaz that weighs around 2kg. With a length of 15cm and
a width of 10.5cm, it’s the largest gemstone of its kind. It was discovered in its raw
state in Brazil three decades ago, by the British explorer Max Ostro. Naturally,
topaz is colourless, but impurities and differences in structure can give it a pale
blue, red or yellow colour. To make the stones look more vivid, they are exposed to
heat or radiation to enhance the colours, before being cut.
June 2017 19NEXT ISSUE
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