Fall 2005 Style & Design
It's a two-hour drive past eucalyptus-studded ridges and giant
iron-mining operations in Minas Gerais—Brazil's mineral-rich inland
state—to reach the world's only imperial-topaz mine. There are other
sources of the tawny topaz stone, but the Topazio Imperial company,
located near the 17th century Portuguese gold-rush center of Ouro Preto,
is the only place that produces a variety of topaz that turns a lovely
pastel pink when properly cut. High above a muddy pit, three cranes toss
down giant buckets, each bringing up a ton of mud and rock. The mixture
is sprayed with water cannons and then examined by hand on a conveyor
belt. Topazio Imperial offers lots with a mix of valuable and less
valuable stones to 10 clients in the world: H. Stern and nine select
lapidaries.
And if anyone else calls needing imperial topaz? Mine owner Wagner
Colombarolli glances at his two partners and scratches his chin. "Well,
we'd tell them we don't have any stones to sell."
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