Citrine Gemstone

Citrine yellow and warm like the sun, this radiant gemstone and naturally rare variety of quartz is a sister crystal to amethyst and was prized by ancient European peoples as a ward and healing stone.

With colours ranging from light yellow to dark golden brown, citrine derives it’s colour from traces of iron within the crystal in the same way as amethyst does, in fact within the precious stone “ametrine” both citrine and amethyst are found together in the same crystal.

Often confused with yellow gemstones such as apatite and beryl, citrine with it’s yellow topaz like colour is also trade named as “Rio Grande Topaz” after one of the more famous places it is found.

Citrine Gemstone Distribution

Citrine is a species of quartz – a mineral of silicon and oxygen that is found widely in nature both upon the surface of and deep within the Earth.

As a hardy crystal with a hardness of 7 on the moh’s scale, quartz is very resistant to weathering and will remain long after the parent rock which it formed within has eroded away with the passage of time.

Quartz with it’s evident resistant to weathering will slowly accumulate in streams, rivers, glaciers and other places that gradually wash and wear away other rocks, leaving deposits of this semi precious stone visibly exposed and contrasted well against other rock.

Tiny crystals of quartz are widely present on beaches around the world as the greatest constituent of sand, fine white sandy beaches are indicative a process of weathering that has taken place over millions of years, leaving behind these small fine crystals.

Below the Earth quartz is found in rock such as granite and other igneous rocks that have slowly crystallised from subterranean flows of magma.

Other quartz containing rocks include sedimentary rocks such as sandstones where quartz crystals have accumulated on the surface over time, and metamorphic rocks including quartzite – where sedimentary rocks have been compressed, heated and transformed into new forms.

Formation of Citrine Gemstone

Under the presence of heat and time trapped minerals of quartz will slowly grow into crystals wedged between fissures in rocks, filling the hollows of geodes and even growing outwards into rock cavities and caves.

Quartz grows into two types of crystal that are called macro and micro or “crypto” crystalline crystals, micro crystalline quartz is comprised of countless small faceted crystals that are invisible or “cryptic” to the unaided eye and include well known chalcedony.

Macro crystalline quartz varieties include well known amethyst, citrine, smoky quartz, rose quartz and rutilated quartzes among many many others, are all quartz family crystals distinguished by numerous different inclusions that include previous crystal impressions, mineral rutile inclusions, gas bubbles, metal inclusions and many others.

See our quartz gemstone article for more about the family of quartz.

Amethyst and citrine gemstone are quartz crystals whose crystal structure is interspersed with iron atoms that were part of the environment that the crystal formed within and were slowly incorporated into the crystal as it grew.

The presence of iron in the otherwise near transparent crystal changes how light is transmitted through the gemstone, for example amethyst will slightly absorb visible light tending towards red, with the opposite purple showing through.

In citrine gemstone the interaction of the iron elements with the surrounding crystal exists in a slightly different state, shifting the absorption of light towards blue leaving a yellow tint.

The small difference between amethyst and citrine is so slight that in nature the two crystals can grow together into a single crystal called an “ametrine” that shows both purple and yellow colouring, while in the market of gemstones “poor quality” amethyst that displays little purple colour is frequently heated to change the colour.

In nature the difference between citrine gemstone and amethyst is often a result of the temperature at which it formed, our jewellery uses natural unheated citrine that shows only slight yellow colouring as opposed to the much stronger yellow of heated citrine.

Where is Citrine Found?

Natural citrine crystal is rare when compared to other quartz crystals with the majority of market citrine being heat treated amethyst.

Natural citrine shows common light yellow colour to less frequently seen golden yellow in “Madeira Citrine” and also includes dark gold brown colours.

Heat treated citrines will often have a red tint and “citrine” quartzes that display dazzling lemon yellow colour are irradiated, heat-treated amethyst can also display inclusions of small lines in the crystal.

The most sought after citrine comes from Madeira and shows strong golden yellow colours, with no visible eye inclusions and no variation of colour across the crystal that is more typical in other citrine.

Citrine is found in a few select places around the world with the most popular coming from Brazil’s “Rio Grande do Sul” area though many heat treated Brazilian amethysts are also sold as natural citrine.

In Brazil it is not uncommon to heat large quartz crystal finds, including geodes of amethyst to become more valuable citrine yellow, producing large clusters of crystal that is more valuable with the sought after yellow colour.

It is considered best to store citrine in a place away from sunlight and strong heat, as both can lead to the gemstone’s yellow colour fading over time.

Citrine Gemstone Culture and History

Citrine has a strong connection to the ancient Celtic people of Western Europe who incorporated it into pendant jewelry that would shield the wearer from both evil thoughts of others and poisons and sickness.

In metaphysical writings citrine is considered to be linked to the sun, and is a stone that is described as giving a boost to energy, as well as the more ancient uses of a ward and health giving stone, other sources describe citrine as a “money stone” and bringer of prosperity.

During the era of ancient Greece citrine was fashioned into large crystal motifs and shaped into figurines, though it was not considered especially valuable – perhaps due to the rarity of stones of good quality compared to more prevalent smoky and milky “included” varieties.

Citrine has a connection to healing and health with the Scottish people believing the stone can protect from the bite of the poisonous local “adder” snake and historically was considered to protect from plague.

Victorian era citrine was very popular and included brooches of large carat crystals set in gold and silver surrounds, citrine jewelry of the era was influenced by the production of Citrine from the “Cairngorm” area in Scotland which continues to produce prized quartzes to this day.

Citrine Fashion

Citrine fashion ranges from large carat designer gemstones that have been carved into beautiful shapes to more common earrings and rings, often matched to gold the natural yellow gemstone colour shines with a warm attractive energy.

Citrine as well as topaz and amber are some of the “go to” gemstones for lovers of natural yellow colours and are frequently cut into faceted gemstones that maximise reflected light and matched to gold and silver.

Our natural citrine jewelry take the light straw yellow colouring of this beautiful gemstone to form designs carrying a lightness and brevity that project life and energy while lifting the colour depth of clothing.

Citrine is an elegant gemstone and is well matched with pink quartzes and the light white jelly agate shown in our beautiful pink crystal necklace piece.

This beautiful citrine necklace uses a pink thread laced through supporting citrine bead whose soft yellow light adds levity of tone to the whole piece.

Matched to seldom seen purple phantom quartz the light purple and citrine yellow of our flower pendant bracelet support each other with fresh spring colour tones and a light airy feeling.

In our design ranges the natural beauty of gemstones is shown with selections of gemstones chosen to support each other in colour and lightness, threaded together in designs that carry an evident emotional feeling and new colourful life concept.

Citrine belongs to our lighter range of necklaces and bracelets, it’s light spring colour is well matched to the silver flower brocades and floral themes of the pieces shown above.

More of our citrine featuring bracelets and necklaces can be seen in our collection page on our website here, the pale yellow colouring of natural citrine is suited to floral jewelry necklaces and floral jewelry bracelets – belonging to those concepts in which a floral blossom feeling is very evident.

Our amethyst gemstone necklace and bracelet page features the sister gemstone of citrine.

Citrine is a beautiful light gemstone and a rarely seen variety of quartz that when incorporated into bead jewelry design gives a sunny lightness to clothing, lifting the presence of elegant apparel and perhaps more importantly brightening the day of not only the wearer but the people around them who catch sight of this lovely warm radiant gemstone.