You should try to get your topaz from a Pakistani, preferably one whose family owns and works the mine, but sent the best looking son to the US to work the gem and mineral show circuit. Go into the transaction with the understanding that all blue topaz has been irradiated. Remember the batch that got out into the general public a few years ago that was still radioactive, and promise yourself again to get one of those little rad dose badges that they wear in the X-ray department. Tell Sanjiv that you want to see the Imperial, realize that you have been saving up since spring for that one perfect topaz, but that one is still going to need a boost from your Discover card. Keister the stone for safety in case of high jackers, even though you drove to the show. Get it home, wash it off, and study it. It is important with topaz to find the plane of cleavage and start to cut it very slightly off the plane, because cutting on or against the plane leaves a greasy-looking veil on the stone that can not be polished away. Spend 8 hours making preliminary cuts, then mess up and have to waste half the stone re-starting it. Weep, wail, bargain with the Lord, admit defeat, put the stone in its little plastic display cup, hope you can sell it for at least a fraction of what you paid for it, and swear that you are going to get out of the gem cutting game forever. Eat a carton of ice cream and go to bed. Get up in the morning, decide it really isn't that bad, set it in 14k gold. Decide it is too pretty to sell and put it into your personal jewelry box. Wear it to the next gem and mineral show to show it off and receive heaps of acclaim from other gem experts.
Rinse and repeat.
Oh, you were talking about topaz reading format? Duh!
