Dec 2019

Your December birthstone - the story behind the blue topaz

 

Blue Topaz Birthstone Necklace - Edge of Ember 

December babies, our commiserations. Your birthday is overlooked, overshadowed and generally outdone by Christmas, New Years and all the festivities in between.

You are a Sagittarius, the intrepid voyagers of the zodiac - thriving on travel, exploration and discovery. Or a Capricorn, the responsible adults, masters of self-control, tied to family and tradition.

Your birthstone is the Blue Topaz, an icy blue gemstone known for its myriad medicinal properties.  

A cure for both insomnia and indigestion, medieval doctors would have you steep a topaz in a glass of wine and rub it over your eyes to cure failing eyesight – a remedy we don’t endorse for legal reasons.

Aside from dubious therapeutic claims, Topaz is said to be a natural magnifier of creativity and industriousness, increasing the wearer’s attention span, ability to articulate complex ideas, and achieve goals.

 

Blue Topaz Necklace - Edge of Ember

 

Topaz are the record breakers of the gemstone world. The largest faceted gemstone in the world is the El-Dorado Topaz, discovered in Brazil in 1984, weighing 31,000 carats (that’s a touch over 13lb, or the weight of an adult Spaniel.)

The loveliest discovery we’ve made so far in our deep dive into the blue topaz is that it was a favourite motif of Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda. So we leave you with this.

When you touch topaz
topaz touches you:
a gentle warmth awakes
as if wine in the grape
came alive.

From ‘Stones of the Sky,’ 1970