Some of you may have heard this already, but the news with Blue Topaz is that many vendors are pulling it from their shelves and distributors like Stuller are stopping all sale of it until the issue is sorted out..

The issue is radioactivity..

Topaz is not blue.. Ever.. It is created by using low levels of radiation to turn it blue.. There is no one that does this in the US.. And recently several shipments have been found to be very hot.. Very radioactive due to poor processes in production.. To be safe, many people are pulling Blue Topaz..

Here is what I have found..

The topaz stays 'hot' for a short amount of time.. 3 to 6 months usually.. So older jewelry is not a problem.. But, how can you know for sure??

I'm a gadget freak.. I can't help it.. I went out and bought an honest to goodness, civil service, cold war surplus, geiger counter over the weekend I tested every stone that we have and the only thing that tripped the meter in the store was the old school glowing Rolex watch face

Personally, I would not be terribly concerned with this new issue.. If your topaz is a year old you will most likely be fine.. If it's "brand new", you are still probably fine since it can take some time to make a piece of jewelry.. But, if you are really concerned you can set your ring aside, somewhere safe, and dig it back out next year.. Or, if you are really freaked out, and I'm not trying to be too much of a whore here, you can package up your stuff and send it to me.. I'll have to figure out a way to do this if anyone is interested..

But, mostly, I just wanted you to be aware of what is going on in the world..

Bizarre. That same warning was issued in late '80s or early '90s but I'd assumed that it was a dead issue. I have 2 BTs from that era, but one new one that I bought unmounted from local store. So, I should bury it in a lead pipe or something, LOL?

At work, the guard screens every load of incoming pig iron for radioactivity with a Geiger counter, b/c after Chernoble (sp?) Russians were dumping their radioactive scrap metal in USA.

Wow! Thanks, Steve, for the update. I wonder if my topaz will mutate or something, since it was probably irradiated. Just kidding.
Please clarify one thing for me. Years ago I read that blue topaz was created by heating white topaz. The longer it was heated, the darker blue the color. Was that another process? Or am I completely in the dark here? (Glowing, of course.)

Blue Topaz is made by sticking it in a nuclear reactor.. Usually just enough to pick up the background radiation and change color.. Someone somewhere was sticking them in a hot reactor and cooking them hard and fast to get the color and then dumping them..

As far as I know there is no such thing as a natural blue topaz..

Wow... that is interesting! Thanks for sharing that info!

I have a lot of blue topaz that I bought last year at a gem show. I would love to send it to you to have you check it out!

Wow - that IS interesting! I have 2 BT rings, one pendant, bracelet and earrings. But they're all old so they're okay.

Hmmm, if BT is being taken off the market for awhile, whatever will Decembers' birthstone be? Sounds like a great reason for us Christmas babies to get some new bling! I'm voting to share birthstones with April!

I just called the people that I got my topaz from and they said that the half life was pretty short and none of their stones were sold until they were safe. Do you think I should take their word on this? Can anyone tell me what a half life is?

From what I was told the half life on Blue Topaz is sitting between 3 and 6 months..

Like I said before, I don't it as a huge issue, but if you are going to see hot Topaz then a gem show is the most likely place..

BTW, no one will ever admit to hot topaz since it would be a federal crime to sell it

Tee Hee - we could "glow in the dark"!!