This emerald-cut Swiss-blue topaz features an even blue color and excellent color saturation due to its size. Use it to create simple earrings or a delicate pendant, pair it with complementary-color gemstones to create matched sets or use it to create more complex, multi-gemstone necklace designs. One of the most popular topaz gemstones, Swiss-blue topaz is an electric, vivid blue said to rival the incredible hues of the sea. The gemstone is naturally flawless in most cases. Topaz is one of the birthstones for November. A hard, usually transparent aluminum silicate gem material, faceted topaz has a brilliance that rivals more expensive gemstones, making it an economical alternative to more costly gems. An "8" on the Mohs scale, topaz is tough and durable, ideal for all types of jewelry. Topaz forms in an orthorhombic structure with crystals that are usually prismatic. Pure topaz is colorless; impurities give the gemstone color. Gemstones can appear in a range of colors, with natural pink being the rarest. Most topaz colors are heat-treated or irradiated to enhance their color. In folklore, this gemstone is believed to dispel sadness and fear, to ward off poisons and to reverse infertility. The emerald-cut has a rectangle shape and cut corners. Its facets are concentric planes that resemble stair-steps around the circumference of the gemstone, above and below the girdle.