Dear gemstone lovers,

gemstones are my profession. My passion. And, yes, they’re all magnificent. But among them there is one which has a really special appeal for me, with its reddish-gold tones and its sparkle: the emperor from Brazil.

The incomparable imperial topaz was discovered in the mid-18th century in Ouro Preto, the ‘home town’ of topazes, in Brazil. Imperial topaz – the very name is magical, isn’t it? Noble too. And yet it’s by no means certain how the stone came to get it. Perhaps the Russian tsars were the force behind it. They were among the earliest and most important buyers of this rarity. Others say that the stone wasn’t named until the time of the Brazilian empire, i.e. between 1822 and 1889. In other words, nobody really knows exactly. Having said that, one thing is certain: today, the imperial topaz is still among the most valuable and most coveted stones worldwide.

In my family too, the imperial topaz has a very special tradition: it was my father’s favourite. Time and again he went off ‘shopping’ to Brazil. Our cutters transformed the unprepossessing raw stones into sparkling ovals, glowing pears, coruscant step-cut gems. In all the colours, from yellow and brown via orange to pink and red. And I have to admit that, since my first journey to Brazil thirty years ago, the imperial topaz has been my absolute favourite too: those fantastic reddish-gold tones and that really special sparkle – simply unique! The same goes for the almost platinum shimmer on the facets. Only a highly polished imperial topaz has a flash like this!

I never like letting go of top-class specimens like this one, which weighs over 20 carats. But a few weeks ago I got a call from the German Gemstone Museum in Idar-Oberstein. And because for me gemstones are not just decoration, but above all true miracles of Nature, I very much appreciate the work the museum does. So for me it was a matter of course to agree to provide them with a special gemstone. The one I selected was the emperor from Brazil – a genuine eyecatcher!

With over 10,000 exhibits, the German Gemstone Museum in Idar-Oberstein displays all the kinds of gemstone the world has to offer. My rarity is on show as ‘object of the month of May’. It’s worth coming to Idar-Oberstein for that alone!

Sparkling greetings,
Constantin Wild