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CITRINE (SiO2)
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Citrine is a variety of quartz. It is any quartz crystal or cluster that is yellow or orange in color. Although often cut as a gemstone, citrine is actually somewhat rare in nature. Citrine stones have a pale to deep or smokey yellow color. Brazil is the leading producer of citrine, with much of its production coming from the state of Rio Grande do Sul.
Most citrines on the market have been heat treated. Specimens of low grade, inexpensive amethyst or smoky quartz are often cooked at high temperatures to produce the more profitable orange yellow citrine.
Citrines whose colors have been produced by artificial means tend to have much more of an orange or reddish caste than those found in nature, which are usually a pale yellow. Much of the natural citrine may have started out as amethyst but heat from nearby magmatic bodies may have caused the change to citrine.
Citrine made by heating amethyst may be returned to a purple color by bombarding it with beta radiation. Interestingly, a popular gemstone on the market is a mixture of half amethyst and half citrine and is given the name ametrine, made by heating an amethyst until it turns into citrine, then irradiating a part of the resulting crystal or gemstone to convert that portion back to amethyst.
CAUTION: Unfortunately for citrine, it is often confused with the more expensive orange-yellow topaz and is at times sold as topaz by unscrupulous dealers. This practice has soured many potential citrine fanciers who see citrine as a fake topaz and not as a legitimate gemstone. It is nearly impossible to tell cut citrine from yellow topaz visibly.
Citrine is the birthstone for November is associated with the birth sign Gemini. A healing stone, believed to be of great benefit to sufferers of diabetes and to aid tissue re-generation. Supposedly especially efficacious to the digestive system. Used to improve self-confidence by encouraging self-esteem, it reputedly enhances friendships and relationships in general.
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 Raw Citrine
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