Jewelry on the Month
Citrine, a form of quartz, derives its name from the French word for lemon, “citron.”Citrine is transparent to translucent and yellow to gold-brown in color with a vitreous luster. The darker colored Citrine crystals, named Madeira for their color’s resemblance to Madeira wines, are generally more valuable. Natural citrine is rare and mainly occurs when Amethyst formations are near natural heat sources in the Earth’s crust.
With a ranking of “7″ on the Mohs scale of hardness, with “10″ representing a diamond, the hardest mineral on earth, citrine has excellent durability and is suitable for everyday wear. Because Citrine closely resembles the more expensive stone Topaz in color, many jewelers sell it as Topaz. Some have chosen false names for Citrine when representing it as Topaz, such as Gold Topaz, Madeira Topaz, Brazilian Topaz and Citrine Topaz.
These are merely heat-treated Topaz. This form of unscrupulous behavior is unfortunately the source of some negativity toward Citrine, which is sad because most gemologists consider Citrine a fine stone in its own right. Occasionally, Mother Nature combines the colors of amethyst and citrine into a single gemstone called ametrine. In ancient times, citrine was carried as a protection against snake venom and evil thoughts. In addition to its place as November’s birthstone, citrine is also a recommended gift for couples celebrating their 13th wedding anniversary.
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