All about Citrine!

•What is citrine?
Citrine is the yellow variety of quartz. Citrine is often confused with yellow topaz. They are two completely different stones. Citrine is yellow because of the presence of iron, and its name comes from the French word citron, which means “lemon” and the Latin word citrus, which means “a citrus tree.” Yellow citrine is sometimes used as the alternate November birthstone, although topaz is the proper birthstone for that month. Citrine is also the commemorative gemstone for the 13th wedding anniversary.

•Where is citrine found?
Gem quality citrine is rare and found in only a few places, including Brazil (Rio Grande citrine); Spain; Madagascar; Russia; and Colombia (Palmira citrine).

•Color
Citrine occurs naturally in yellow, golden yellow, and orange colors. The most common color of natural citrine is a pale yellow.

•Shape
Citrine can be cut into all the faceted gemstone shapes: round brilliant, oval, pear, marquise, heart, cushion, square, trillion, fantasy, and emerald. It is also cut into cabochons.

•Durability
Citrine has a hardness of 7 on the Mohs Scale and is a relatively durable stone. It can be set, polished, cleaned in an ultrasonic cleaner, and boiled and steamed with care. Also, mountings set with citrine stones can be worked on with a torch with relative safety.

•Quality
The highest quality genuine citrines are an orangey-red color and are exceptionally rare. Most good quality commercial citrines are yellow or yellow-orange and, as with all translucent gemstones, the absence of internal inclusions (flaws) signifies a higher quality stone.

•Legend and lore
Citrine is reputed to have a calming effect on its wearers. It can supposedly provide a feeling of stability and can enhance stamina in all aspects of your being. Citrine is also supposed to help hyperactive, “Type-A,” workaholics slow down a little. (It is not known if lots of coffee negates this effect!)

•Care
Citrine can be cleaned with ammonia-based jewelry cleaner and is safe to clean in an ultrasonic cleaning machine. At home, you can soak your citrine jewelry in standard jewelry cleaner, rinse under hot water, and dry with a soft cloth. Do not boil citrine nor subject it to intense temperature changes (i.e., allowing the stone to become extremely hot and then running it under cold water).