Topaz, or not topaz. That is the question..?

Going madly through my collection trying to identify anything somewhat like a topaz. Heres what I've grabbed out soon far. Very hard to tell difference, even after comparing with a sample from Wal. Any advice?

Just tried to break two of them with a knife n hammer, more shattered like glass rather than a neat slice.. just cant seem to identify them :/

Some of them look like Topaz to me, if you have a good and accurate set of scales you could do a specific gravity test to help identify them instead of with the hammer lol.

hehehe :8 ill give it a test heatho, I just didnt think the sg test was as easy as that and needed a tool..

While were on sg testing, how can you tell the amount of gold in a specimen? Just subtract the quartz sg?

AtomRat said:

hehehe :8 ill give it a test heatho, I just didnt think the sg test was as easy as that and needed a tool..

While were on sg testing, how can you tell the amount of gold in a specimen? Just subtract the quartz sg?

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Yes mate I'm pretty sure that's how it's done. Should give you a good rough estimate for gold content.

The test in the link works well, I've used it a few times.

Topaz is meant to be colder than quartz, place it on your cheek and then place quartz after, if it's colder it's a good indicator it's topaz.

Though this is just something I heard from a old timer, not sure if it's accurate or any truth to it lol.

Tom

heh...rather amusing heatho. All of them are quartz but the one I smashed has a sg of 3.01... typical hey. Its an in betweener

I guess I have a 96ct and 278ct quartz cutters here then

Omg im a fool! I smashed the only one that was "kidney shaped" ( 3rd from left, bottom row ) ... gotta learn from these things though

hmm.. I just re-did all the rocks again, none of them topaz Went through all my rocks in buckets and ill see if I find any by morning..

Hope they were all white sapphire that would bring the lesson home about distructive testing. Handlense examination is how to tell the difference between topaz and quartz. Maybe stick to finding gold.

Hey AtomRat, despite the fact it's not topaz, you have some very nice quartz rough in there. I'd go looking for that stuff to tumble...

topaz cleavage... Obvious on a big stone eh?

rough2cut - I'm so gentle my farts don't flutter a fairy's wing. Was only looking to see what "perfect cleavage" means on a topaz as I'm finding it very difficult to find any examples that properly explain it. I've also figured out I've had some cleavage confused with cystral formation.

KingSolomon - mega find! But I'm still confused. Am I meant to be looking at your black line or the top left of the rock? Ohh... This is one of this bloody things I can't get my head around

mfdes - I'm quite happy to send out some if your after any, I'll have a bit of a collection going when it warms up and the plan is to sell, tumble, cab, shape, polish etc..

I really need someone to grab me by the scruff of the neck and rub my eyes against what I'm exactly meant to be looking at, for or where.

Conchoidal fracture is easy to spot, calcite and halite obvious, but waterworn topaz against clear quartz is a hard one. How do I spot these planes or signs of cleavage

AtomRat said:

I really need someone to grab me by the scruff of the neck and rub my eyes against what I'm exactly meant to be looking at, for or where.

Conchoidal fracture is easy to spot, calcite and halite obvious, but waterworn topaz against clear quartz is a hard one. How do I spot these planes or signs of cleavage

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Hi AtomRat,

I know it's no help now, but you'll get the hang of it. After a while, you learn to tell apart most topaz from quartz, it just has a shine, a glow, all of its own. If they're clear they look sort of like ice cubes on your hand. If they're not very waterworn, topaz crystals have 4 sides, compared to 6 in quartz. If they're very waterworn, by far the easiest test is the lip (or cheek) test. Topaz is denser than quartz, so quartz of a similar size warms up against your skin much faster than topaz. This is really evident, also: if you have to think about it, it's probably not topaz.

Cheers,

Cheers mate, sat up all night looking for this "one" I have and I'm pretty sure its a topaz when I find it.

Its just hard when Solomon said its easy to see on the big rock..and I'm still staring going duuurrr

Whatever they are they look like good faceting material so don't go hitting any more with a hammer!

Dunno if it's fact or crap but I read somewhere that in the old days a lot of gold prospectors used exactly that approach. If they found a transparent stone while digging, they would put it on an anvil and bash it with a hammer - a gemstone was so hard it would not break so if it broke it was not a gemstone.

My eyes water thinking about all the beautiful stones that must have been pulverised during a test that none could possibly pass 8.(

rough2cut said:

Hope they were all white sapphire that would bring the lesson home about distructive testing. Handlense examination is how to tell the difference between topaz and quartz. Maybe stick to finding gold.

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This seems extremely harsh, I actually had to read it a few times to see if I could see any hint at sarcasm or humor, but I see none..... While it may have been a bit rash to go and smash up a nice specimen so quickly, there is no reason to sit on your high horse and look down your nose that way.
This site is meant to be about helping people out and sharing information, telling him to look through a hand lens ( which from reading his post I would guess he already has) without explaining what to look for is useless.

I am by no means an expert, as others have said crystal shape would be first thing to look for then maybe cleavage if present ( two opposing sides would be shiney/reflective, but if water worn just flat), SG is also a great way http://aussielapidaryforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=1137.0 there is a handy post on how to.
But topaz should be harder than Quartz, try scratching a piece of Quartz on what you are hoping is topaz. The topaz should not be scratched but should be able to scratch the Quartz. A scratch can at least be polished out later on if needed.
I also have read something about water not being dispersed as easily on topaz as on Quartz ( ball up on topaz, spread out on Quartz) because of its hardness.

Lefty said:

Dunno if it's fact or crap but I read somewhere that in the old days a lot of gold prospectors used exactly that approach. If they found a transparent stone while digging, they would put it on an anvil and bash it with a hammer yikes - a gemstone was so hard it would not break so if it broke it was not a gemstone.

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Heard the same thing from our geology lecturer, think it had something to do with diamond, ruby and sapphires being "hard" minerals so some of the old timers mistook that for in unbreakable

Cheers shivan..

"two opposing sides would be reflective.." is basically a key sentence which is helping unlock my difficulties with this stone. I was looking at the top left of KingSolomons big topaz and the thick "sheet" look to the top left is where I can see it.( I think ).

I brushed off the comment, I had to read it a few times myself, but anger management counselling tells me to let it sit. I wish I was perfect too, but if I knew more, id probably rather put my knowledge to good use rather than background whispers.