Topaz Hunting in Mason, Texas

It’s November, another 2-birthstone month! Citrine and topaz are the gems that represent November, and today I’ll be talking all about a trip I took to hunt for one of these gems; topaz.

This trip was a blast! It was the first Houston GIA Alumni Association “field trip” that I had been on. We decided to plan this trip since Topaz is the state gemstone of Texas and my friend, Bob, had a great contact. Bob was wonderful to coordinate and plan the trip to the Lindsay Ranch in Mason, Texas. It’s one of only three private ranches in Texas where you can hunt for Topaz.

Minerals on the ranch include limestone, granite, tourmaline, sandstone, quartz, garnet, schist, and some that no one has been able to identify. Petrified wood, petrified bone, fossils, arrowheads, hand axes, and other artifacts have also been found at Lindsay Ranch. Amongst all of the wonderful stones and artifacts found there, Topaz was what we had our eyes set on.

Topaz was designated the Texas state gemstone in 1969 and the Lone Star cut was designated the state cut in 1979. The name Topaz has been used to refer to yellowish gemstones for at least 2000 years although early gem traders did not realize that these yellow stones could be a variety of different crystals. As gem traders began to get more sophisticated, they came to know that these yellow stones may be quartz, beryl, sapphire or what we now know as topaz. Topaz makes an ideal gemstone, it comes in a wide range of colors and its relatively hard qualities allow for many uses. We were very excited to get to work looking for Topaz!

The ranch was beautiful and the weather held up for our hunt. We started early and broke away from a yummy BBQ lunch. I wasn’t lucky enough to find any Topaz, but I loved getting to meet other Gemologists and collectors from Texas who have similar interests as me. A fun time was had by all! I highly recommend taking a trip to the Lindsay Ranch in Mason, Texas.