Drafted Tabard Topaz

Old English draht, draft — past-participle of draft. As a color modifier, drafted implies a clear-and-line-and-measured quality, the crisp color of Mid-Century-Modern hand-drafted architectural-and-engineering studio-drawing precision-tool-rendered lines. Sits at the crisp-and-incised end of the grid, parallel to drawn and plotted in usage.

Old French tabart, herald's-or-knight's-surcoat. As a color modifier, tabard implies a herald's-tabard-and-knight's-surcoat quality, the visual register of medieval-herald's-and-knight's-tabard hand-herald's-tabard-and-knight's-surcoat medieval-herald's-and-knight's-tabard-and-College-of-Arms tabard-and-herald's-tabard surfaces under medieval-herald's-and-knight's-tabard-and-College-of-Arms College-of-Arms-and-Bayeux-Tapestry heraldic-tabard-light. Sits at the modifier-and-textile end of the grid, parallel to kilt and cape in usage.

A fluorine aluminum silicate gem, hardness 8 on the Mohs scale, mined for centuries in Ouro Preto, Brazil. Imperial topaz is the prized variety: a warm, slightly pink-shifted gold-orange with the high refractive index of a quality cut stone. Cooler than amber, brighter than honey, with the gem's signature internal fire when held to light. Named for the island of Topazos in the Red Sea, though that source produced peridot instead.