Where my eyes kept turning to the stunning Blue Topaz

One pair of loopy gold earrings has been with me since high school. I wore them all the time in college and years afterward. Eventually, the back stem broke off one earring. Yet, I kept them. They were a high school graduation gift from a treasured journalism teacher.

So, really, there was no way I was about to lose one earring at a Warren pawnshop.

Drive down the road and billboards are proclaiming "We Buy Gold." Newspaper and television ads shout "Cash for Gold." Plenty of jewelry stores and pawnshops are offering to buy gold on the spot, too.

Seems like a perfect time to sell: Gold is bouncing around record levels, as is economic anxiety. [See chart, below]

So I wondered: How much is my stuff really worth when the price of gold was soaring at record levels?

I dug out those loopy gold earrings and my school ring from St. Florian High School in Hamtramck. I found an old ring that I think belonged to Uncle Joe; my father's thin, heart-trimmed wedding band, a locket and other earrings.

I asked my husband one day at dinner to hand over his gold wedding band.

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The gemstones primarily used are London, Swiss Blue Topaz

Stoneham -

Last Friday afternoon I found myself under the influence of ancient Mayan gems. The stones, which are best known for their healing powers, were being used to relax my facial muscles, while simultaneously diminishing the bags under my eyes and my furrowed brow. What I was experiencing was the new Acugems Facial Rejuve treatment, offered at reVive Skin Therapies, 468 Main St.
Beth Ann Fischberg, owner of reVive, who was trained in California to administer this unique, anti-aging facial, is currently the only esthetician offering the service in Massachusetts. Her faithful clients come from all around the area — Melrose, Reading, Brookline, Cambridge, etc.

For her clients, the treatment is a comforting alternative to plastic surgery and Botox. There’s no recovery time or risk of permanent mistakes; plus it’s a financial break for those wanting immediate beauty enhancements.

For Fischberg, it’s a spiritual procedure, using ancient healing techniques adopted by Mayan culture to rejuvenate and firm the skin. She refers to it as an “all-natural facelift,” using gemstones, micro-currents and therapeutic light, instead of surgery or needles, to “re-educate” facial muscles.

Acutrone, the machine used to circulate the micro-currents with gemstones, was designed by Aracely Plateroti, practitioner of oriental medicine and acupuncture in Santa Barbara, Calif. The treatment was featured in Spa Magazine and FitnessRx for Women.

“Plateroti is partly of Mayan decent. In the Mayan culture they use gemstones for healing. So she always used gems, since she was a child. Her mother used them when she had stomachaches and would put stones on her stomach to help her heal,” said Fischberg. “So when she became an acupuncturist she wanted to find out a way to incorporate the gemstones with needles.”

“My treatment is non-needlist,” she added. “It uses the principles of Chinese medicine and acupuncture, but also uses micro-current energy, which is a very low electrical current, similar to the current in the body, so you hardly feel it. Then it also incorporates 12 different therapeutic color frequencies, customized to each person and gemstone.”

The gemstones primarily used are tourmaline — pink and green, citrine, black star sapphire and London blue topaz. Certain stones are used for different skin conditions. But tourmaline is a staple because it uses both negative and positive charge to help the products penetrate, while also helping to heal. Tourmaline is also used in flattening irons and skin-care products, according to Fischberg.

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Latest update on US regulation regarding Irradiated gemstones specially Blue Topaz

By BlueTopaz.com

In recent times, there has been lot of debate regarding use of radiation to enhance the color of gemstones, specially Topaz .

In U.S.A, all irradiation facilities and the import & export of radioactive material is regulated by  the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) ( www.nrc.gov).

The USNRC has control over reactor-irradiated radioactive gems imported into USA and import of any such gemstone requires a license from USNRC.

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A Blue Topaz Christmas

By Gary Roskin, G.G., FGA -- JCK-Jewelers Circular Keystone,

The gem and jewelry industry has little to worry about from irradiated blue topaz, says Dr. Andrew Karam, adjunct professor of radiation safety at the Rochester Institute of Technology. He says a blue topaz bracelet with 6.00 cts. of reactor-irradiated gemstones would produce a radiation dose between 700 and 800 mrem (millirems) if worn continuously for a year after being irradiated but notes that's less than regulatory limits. “This level of radiation exposure poses no risk to the wearer,” Karam says. “They will not get radiation burns, they will not get cancer, and they don't have to worry about radiation affecting a pregnancy.”

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On July 27, 2007, members of the jewelry industry met with representatives of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in Rockville Maryland. The meeting was called to discuss NRC compliance issues concerning irradiated gemstones, including blue topaz.

Published September/Octoer 2007

By Stuart M. Robertson, GG

Acting on a complaint earlier this summer, the NRC informed retail jewelers that they may be selling blue topaz in noncompliance with NRC regulations. The NRC letter also purportedly requested the names of the retailers’ blue topaz suppliers and producers. At issue is the ability of jewelers to provide the required documentation that the stones have been produced or tested by a NRC licensed facility. Since it is now being widely reported that no such licensed facility is currently servicing the U.S. gem industry, it would appear that the NRC concerns are well founded.

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US agency clarifies Blue Topaz issue

Old rules, which regulated only Swiss blue and London blue topaz, have been expanded to also regulate sky blue topaz beginning November 30. The NRC stressed, however, that there is no reason to believe blue topaz or any other irradiated gemstone pose any health risk.

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued a statement recently clarifying the issue about irradiated gemstones, most notably blue topaz, after members of the jewellery industry and consumers made "numerous inquiries" that reflected "confusion and misinformation" about the issue.

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Understanding the blue topaz issue

The United States' Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regulates the import of irradiated gems into the US market. Its regulations since the late 1980s concerned only neutron-irradiated gems, i.e. those irradiated in reactors, such as Swiss blue and London blue topaz.

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Revised US regulations will likely boost Blue Topaz prices, says treater

Zimmermann BCS Stones GmbH, a Germany-based company that specialises in treating blue topaz, foresees an increase in the prices of blue topaz due to the costs that would be involved in complying with the revised regulations of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

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AGTA cautions members about importing Blue Topaz

The American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) has urged its members to exercise prudence in the importation of blue topaz, currently the subject of scrutiny in the US market.

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