Some are Austen's possessions, such as a topaz cross she received from her brother.
Gold rings, amulets and necklaces; blocks of sugar candy; images of Shiva made of topaz and sapphire; bottles of tonic and packets of blue pills; rosaries, silver vessels and even medallions inscribed with the name of the recipient, the day and date.
The nearly 23,000-carat American Golden topaz, also at the Smithsonian, is among the world's largest faceted gems.
This can be done by using the Mohs scale of hardness, which lists 10 common minerals in their relative order of hardness: talc (softest with the scale number 1), gypsum (2), calcite (3), fluorite (4), apatite (5), orthoclase (6), quartz (7), topaz (8), corundum (9), and diamond (10).
Diamond doublets may have pavilions of colourless glass, zircon, topaz, quartz, or sapphire; ruby doublets of garnet; and beryl or garnet doublets of coloured glass.
Sapphires and topaz from Queensland and the New England district of New South Wales are also well known.
The Oriental topaz (a corundum) and citrine quartz are also widely used.
One of the most important gems with pure crystals is the topaz, used a great deal in jewelry.
To these, however, can be added chrysoberyl, topaz, and zircon because of their hardness and their refraction and transparency index.
The "topaz" in the Old Testament also may have been chrysolite.
Gem minerals include amethyst, chrysoberyl, brazilianite, topaz, and quartz.
