Citrine

Posted by: angarainc on: June 20, 2008

In: Uncategorized
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Citrine, also called the citrine fortz is a variety of quartz. Citrine ranges from yellow to orange to golden brown shades of transparent quartz. Citrine name is derived from the French word “citron” many citrines have juicy lemon color. Citrine have ferric impurities and is rarely found in nature. Most commercial citrine is in fact artificially heated amethyst or smoky quartz. The artificially generated color of citrine tends to have much more orange or reddish caste than those found in nature, which are usually pale yellow. Citrine made by heating amethyst may be returned to purple color by bombarding it with beta radiation.Brazil is the leading producer of naturally mined citrine, with much of its production coming from the state of Rio Grande do Sul.

Citrine by virtue has many magical and healing powers. It was thought to stimulate the memory, influence the dreams, be a general talisman of protection and enhance creativity. One of the main attributes of the stone was its power to protect against snake venom. Sometimes citrine is often mistaken for more expensive orange-yellow topaz and is unscrupulous dealers. However citrine is considered as an alternative to topaz as the birthstone for November.

Citrine is one of the several quartz varieties available.
Other varieties of quartz are as follows:

Amethyst-is the purple gemstone variety.
Milky Quartz- is the cloudy white variety.
Prasiolite- is a leek green variety.
Rock Crystal- is a clear variety that is also used as a gemstone.
Rose Quartz- is a pink to reddish pink variety.
Smoky Quartz- is a brown to grey variety.

This gemstone can be scratched rather easily and its color will darken when exposed to too much of sunlight. This darkening is permanent, so care is needed to keep the gemstone out of excessive amount of sunlight. Some other characteristics of Citrine are as follows-

Citrine- Main Characteristics
Classification – Minera
Mineral- 7
Molecular formula- SiO2
Composition- Silicon Dioxide.
Crystal Shape- Octagon.
Color/Spectrum- Octagon
Color/Spectrum- Amber yellow.
Atomic (Crystal) Structure- 8 sided crystals.
Index of Refraction- 1.54-1.55
Density (Relative) – 2.67 Light interaction- Clean
Uses- Jewelry.

Citrine Jewelry- November’s birthstone citrine sparkles like honey and looks perfect when set in glistening yellow gold. They make elegant center stones for rings and pendants. Citrine when paired with diamonds and white gold enhances the beauty of the jewelry. The online jewelry retailers like Angara brings you an exquisite variety of citrine and other colored gemstone jewelry.