Topaz in London blue, Swiss blue & Sky blue colours

99% of the blue topaz available in the market is processed by irradiation, as natural blue topaz is very rare.

At LifeGem Diamonds Limited, we buy rough stones of white topaz from Nigeria and Brazil, and slice them for removing the inclusions. The sliced topaz is cut into required sizes & pre-formed. The pre-formed white topaz is sent to the Nuclear reactor facility, where they are irradiated using gamma or neutron rays. After irradiation, the topaz is aged from 1-2 months (for gamma treatment) to 1-2 years (for neutron treatment) to bring down the residual radiation, if any, to the safe level of 20 Bg/gram. As per the regulations by NRC, the irradiated blue topaz should be kept in a special storage facility by the irradiator, until its radiation level reaches to the acceptable limit.

After gamma irradiation, white topaz will convert into sky blue and swiss blue colours, and neutron beam irradiation into London blue colour. The semi- finished topaz is received back and re-processed by calibration, girdle polishing, faceting and final polishing.

Cut & polished blue topaz

Blue topaz goes very well with silver, gold, platinum and diamond jewellery and highly in demand. The global demand for blue topaz is estimated as 10,000 kgs per year, which is a billion dollar business. Only a few companies in the world can do high-quality topaz irradiation.