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Blue topaz and tanning salons
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Author:  Barbra Voltaire, FGG [ Sat Feb 25, 2006 11:49 am ]
Post subject:  Blue topaz and tanning salons

I just received a letter from a lady who wore her Carribean blue topaz into the tan salon and it turned dark green! :?
She wrote to ask if there was anything she could do to reverse this effect.
Has anyone heard of this? :?:

Author:  Barbara O. Ellis [ Sat Feb 25, 2006 2:06 pm ]
Post subject: 

My guess would be that the UV light of the tanning booth initiated a reaction with the irradiated/annealed color of the topaz and caused a further color change. Don't know if it can be remedied :? .

Author:  hehheh [ Sat Feb 25, 2006 2:14 pm ]
Post subject: 

Looks like we've discovered a new treatment by serendipity!

Author:  Barbara O. Ellis [ Sat Feb 25, 2006 2:16 pm ]
Post subject: 

LOL . . . I guess my question to her would be why the heck she wore her jewelry into the tanning booth!!

Author:  Doos [ Sat Feb 25, 2006 3:44 pm ]
Post subject: 

According to my notes Topaz is one of the gems that can have natural treatment (usually by the sun).

As UV light is part of the electromagnetic spectum I suspect that this plays a role in it. Although I never heared of it before.
Could you ask how long she exposed the stone to it?

Author:  hehheh [ Sun Feb 26, 2006 3:38 am ]
Post subject: 

Why not just try subjecting the stone to a fade test in the sun. It may just fade back to blue... Or become totally another thing altogether again :)

Isn't green topaz a novelty? Why not just leave it as such :) Perhaps in the mean time, I'll try out this greening of a small parcel of blue topaz in SW and LW UV.

Author:  Barbra Voltaire, FGG [ Sun Feb 26, 2006 12:03 pm ]
Post subject: 

The stone was exposed to the rays in the tanning booth for 20 minutes. The color produced was so dark a green, it almost appeared black. She wrote me today, that the topaz appears a bit lighter today. Indeed this may be a relatively short term effect. :?
It's very interesting.

Author:  hehheh [ Sun Feb 26, 2006 3:48 pm ]
Post subject: 

I'll put a note on that effect in my topaz pages. Interesting stuff.

Author:  Aussie Sapphire [ Sun Feb 26, 2006 3:59 pm ]
Post subject: 

Makes you wonder what it could do to your body?

It's interesting how some Gems can change over short periods, our Zircon straight from the ground is one such stone that can change with intense lighting.

I found this by accident - in winter I often dry our washed sapphire/corundum under a ordinary halogen spot light. I made the mistake of drying zircon in the same way. After about 1 hr under the light when removed the red zircon has a beautiful bright glow, this fades a bit on cooling to a richer red than before, several hrs later they are back to normal. I have left a small lot under by mistake for an extended period (we normally only just warm the product enough that it will dry, 1-2hrs) but this was left on all night. Once this had cooled and I had dug out all the dead moths and bugs I found that our nice Red Zircon was an ordinary brownish colour.

cheers for now

Author:  ROM [ Sun Feb 26, 2006 6:01 pm ]
Post subject: 

Hi Andrew,

You've nearly chanced upon the secret of heat-treating red/orange (and other colors) of zircon. Don't give up yet! The process is non-toxic but it can be somewhat alarming as you'll learn if you follow the link.

My late friend/mentor and facet rough supplier, Mark Liccini, tells all here: http://www.bovagems.com/eclectic/HTML/1 ... IRCON.html

This is one of the funniest gem stories I've ever heard and I know the scene of the 'crime' very well: I spent 2+ months holed up in a 46th St. hotel some years ago while on a Ford Foundation Fellowship.

Enjoy!

R.O.M.

Author:  Aussie Sapphire [ Mon Feb 27, 2006 5:39 am ]
Post subject: 

ROM wrote:
Hi Andrew,

You've nearly chanced upon the secret of heat-treating red/orange (and other colors) of zircon. Don't give up yet! The process is non-toxic but it can be somewhat alarming as you'll learn if you follow the link.

My late friend/mentor and facet rough supplier, Mark Liccini, tells all here: http://www.bovagems.com/eclectic/HTML/1 ... IRCON.html

This is one of the funniest gem stories I've ever heard and I know the scene of the 'crime' very well: I spent 2+ months holed up in a 46th St. hotel some years ago while on a Ford Foundation Fellowship.

Enjoy!

R.O.M.


I remember reading that article when I had this disaster. Very funny story - I'm not sure I'll give it a go although at least we live out of town and are not likely to have the fire brigade call in to investigate.

cheers

Author:  Barbra Voltaire, FGG [ Wed Mar 01, 2006 11:28 am ]
Post subject: 

I just got word this morning, that the blue topaz has returned to its original color.

Author:  JB [ Wed Mar 01, 2006 11:41 am ]
Post subject: 

As a curiosity I put a medium blue topaz in my UV box under long wave for 10 minutes (didn't want to risk burning out the bulb for this experiment). No changes were noted.

The end of April marks my annual visits to the tanning beds. I'll take some topaz as well as some other gems and see what half an hour will do if anything.

Geez, the sacrifices I make in the name of science. 8) <that's me in the tanning bed

Author:  Stephen Challener [ Thu Jun 07, 2018 10:55 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Blue topaz and tanning salons

So, as a topaz fan this topic has sat in the back of my mind for quite a while. Finally thanks to Nathan Renfro's research I think we have an explanation: https://www.gia.edu/gems-gemology/fall- ... -radiation
Her 'topaz' was lilely a misidentified blue zircon.
Nathan has a video of this effect in action up on his Instagram which is how I heard about it: https://www.instagram.com/p/BjfkniFFp4S ... uuxjiloyyv

Author:  stairman [ Fri Jun 08, 2018 2:09 pm ]
Post subject:  Re:

Barbara O. Ellis wrote:
LOL . . . I guess my question to her would be why the heck she wore her jewelry into the tanning booth!!


modesty?

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