I’m fairly new to gem terminology. What is the difference between the terms whiskey topaz, champagne topaz and precious topaz and what make the value so different?
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No real difference. They are just slang terms for “imperial” topaz.
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Eugene,
Mike (@mdsandifer) is right. They are common descriptors for the brown tinted stones. Although, I believe “Precious” refers to a more orange-ish color. Topaz is such an under-appreciated stone, though. Always being blamed, as an imposter and such. 
Cheers!
-Troy
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The only big difference is marketing. Different companies will try to market the same stone with different “brand” names in an attempt to increase desirability. “Whiskey,” “Champagne,” “Precious,” all sound nicer and more desirable than “brown.”
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Thanks for all your help. That’s sort of / kind of what I thought. I thought Imperial should have a secondary hue of slp but alot of them don’t. I just wasn’t sure were champagne and whiskey came from. Most of my interests involving gemstone has been outside the U.S. and I never heard anyone refer to topaz by those names except in the U.S… Personally, I like Topaz but I guess I can pretty much say that about all gemstones.
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there are certainly many shade of Topaz in the brown/orange/pink/yellow range (basically not blue 
). I am guessing that each description, whilst meaningless in terms of “species”, indicates a colour bias… I would think, Whiskey… brown dominant, less orange, Champagne, yellow dominant some brown, precious, who knows I always thought orange/red… guess the description is supposed to make you think you are buying a well known kind of topaz, which my not be the case of course… would be interested to see other folks photo’s of their topaz and what they would call them!!
here is my starter for 10… from top left…
- Pink- light pink (Afghan bought in Peshawar)
- Champagne -Clear slight brown yellow (v. light peach colour loc as above)
- Imperial - Orange (Brazilian, bout from Mark Liccini years ago)
- and Blues (can’t remember source, bought from Jeff Graham years ago)
What’s yours look like…
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I wondered about this as well… this is a Topaz I cut sourced from Pakistan… I placed it next to one of the rough crystals. Not clear… not white … and not Imperial … What is left?
Imperial topaz is more of an orangy golden tone. Champange is a mix of a brown and white. Typically the names given to varieties of topaz have to do with classifying their color.
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