Citrine is a naturally yellow variety of quartz crystal and has a Mohs hardness of 7. Also called lemon citrine and (sometimes lemon quartz), it is known in the metaphysical realm for its ability to promote prosperity and abundance. Energetically, it helps dissipate negativity and promotes optimism. Citrine aids in manifestation by inspiring confidence and motivation, and by aligning the user with his/her true will. Citrine is linked with the sun and acts on the solar plexus chakra.
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| Unheated Citrine Pendant from DoodlepunkArt |
Citrine's yellow color is created by aluminum, lithium and hydrogen replacing oxygen in some of the quartz’s molecular structure (SiO2), which has then been exposed to naturally occurring radiation for millions of years. The yellow color is transparent and is not created by inclusions, occlusions or iron coating/staining. It is created in circumstances almost identical to smoky quartz with the same elements present; theoretically it is only the ratio of these elements trapped in the crystal’s lattice which determines whether the crystal turns smoky or citrine or a combination of the two when exposed to gamma rays. This is why unheated citrine and smoky quartz can be found in the same mine, and is also why there are smoky citrines - the Li:Al ratio often falls somewhere between what would create a citrine and smoky quartz.
Amethyst,
by contrast is colored by iron built into the quartz crystal lattice
that has been exposed to gamma rays. When amethyst is heated it turns
colors that vary from bright goldenrod, to amber, orange or brown and is sold
as "citrine." True citrine is not tinted to the orange side of yellow. It's color range from smoky, to olive tinted yellow to a lemon yellow that closer to the green spectrum of yellow than to the orange side.
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| Fake Citrine from http://www.the-vug.com/vug/vugfakes.html Notice how the color is an orangish yellow. Also, see the diamond shape? This crystal was broken from a cluster of amethyst crystals on a matrix, like the clusters shown down further in this document. Heat treatment changed the color to a bright orangish-yellow. |
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| Smoky Citrine from DoodlepunkArt. Notice how the color is more of a greenish-yellow. Heat-Treated Amethyst "Citrine" will never range on the greenish side and unheated citrine will never be a bright orange-yellow. |
Since amethyst is found in abundance, most "citrine" sold
on the market is actually heat-treated amethyst. Unfortunately, with all the heat-treated amethyst flooding the market, it can be challenging to find real citrines. If you are looking at citrine for its metaphysical properties, be certain it is not heat-treated amethyst because it will not have the same healing properties as real citrine.
Heated-amethyst "citrine" properties are almost identical to untreated amethyst.
Also, something to think about when choosing between heat-treated amethyst and true citrine, is amethyst is very sensitive to light, so it will fade when exposed to high light until eventually the color will be gone completely if it is not carefully stored in the dark when not in use and carefully protected from direct sunlight. Real citrine is less photoensitive so the color will last longer than amethyst, although I do recommend storing it in the dark as well when not in use, because it will fade as well, just not as quickly. High temperatures will also fade citrine, so do not leave it in your car in the sun or steam clean it.
At least 99% of the "citrine" on the market is heat-treated amethyst, which again is colored by the presence of iron, not aluminum and lithium, like true citrine. True natural citrine is extremely rare. I have seen sellers of Madeira citrine (a higher heat product) say on their websites that the heat-treated imitation is more expensive than natural citrine, but that is not even remotely true. It is simply a ploy to get you to spend more money for a cheap knockoff. Why would something that is incredibly rare be less expensive than something that is abundant and not natural?
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| Real Smoky Citrine - Nearly parallel sides, the color is soft and earthy |
It is legal (and standard) in the United States to sell heat-treated amethyst as "citrine", but sellers should disclose whether a stone is treated by calling it "enhanced." Unfortunately most people selling heat-treated amethyst call it "natural citrine" and do not even know that it is NOT the real thing, so they do not inform the buyer, and will often actually tell their customers that it is real or untreated. I don't believe that ignorance is a valid excuse. It is the responsibility of a good vender to educate themselves about what they are selling in order to ensure that they are selling you what they claim, but many just don't take the time. Also, there is a lot of misinformation out there, so figuring out the truth is not an easy task if you aren't an exceptionally meticulous and persistent researcher. Still, your best bet for finding natural citrine is to learn for yourself how to distinguish it from heat-treated amethyst, so I'm going to teach you what you should look for so that you can be a smarter shopper:
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| Fake Citrine (Heat-Treated Amethyst Cluster) - White at base and bright amber color. |
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| Untreated Amethyst Cluster - Notice how it's much darker at the tips. |
First, let's talk about shape. Amethyst most commonly grows in a druzy/cluster formation on a matrix of rock, and individual
crystals are broken off from these larger clusters. (Notice the matrix rock that the amethyst crystals grow from in the two photos above and the two below.) Citrine, by
contrast, rarely (and perhaps never) grows in a druzy/geode clusters.
(There are occasional cluster formations, but they look very different from amethyst clusters.)
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| Fake Citrine (Heat-Treated Amethyst Cluster) - See the orange color, dark tips and diamond shape? |
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| Untreated Amethyst Cluster - White base, dark at tips, diamond shaped crystals grouped on a matrix. |
The
shape of a genuine, natural citrine crystal resembles a clear quartz crystal -
typically with long parallel sides or sides with a gradual taper
as in a laser wand. ( You can see this shape in all the natural citrine photos in this article.) By contrast, individual amethyst crystals have a very distinct diamond-like shape. There are no parallel sides. Instead, the termination faces meet sides which dramatically taper towards where it attached to the matrix. It is dramatically thicker on the termination end. Try searching "raw amethyst crystal"
on google images to familiarize yourself with more examples of the amethyst shape. If a
"citrine" resembles most amethysts in shape, then it is heat-treated
amethyst, not natural citrine.
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| Fake Citrine (Heat-Treated Amethyst) - The diamond-shape, the dark tip with white base and the orangish-amber color are all dead giveaways. |
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| Amethyst - See the diamond shape (indicating it was broken from a druzy cluster on a matrix) and the dark tip with the light base? |
Next
let's talk about color distribution. Heat treated amethyst is usually
darker at the tip and lighter at the base where it grew from it's
matrix. Notice how all of these amethysts and heat-treated amethysts in the photos above and below are darker
at the termination and the color fades into white or almost white as it
approaches the base where it attached to the matrix. The color of true citrine is more even, or it has darker phantoms or patches inside. If it is lighter at the tip than at the base,
then it is not heat-treated amethyst.
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| Amethyst - Three more broken from a larger matrix. There is less of the material closer to the matrix than in most of the other examples, but you can still see that there are no long parallel or gently tapering sides that resemble a clear quartz. Most amethyst crystals will be shaped like this. |
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| Fake Citrine (Heat-Treated Amethyst) - See how there are no parallel sides leading to the termination? And again, an amber tip with a white base. |
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| Fake Citrine (Heat-Treated Amethyst) - More amethysts broken from a cluster, all with orange-ish/amber color indicative of heat-treatment. There are no parallel sides leading to terminations and the light areas are quite opaque white. |
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| Amethyst - Same diamond shape crystals with white bases, broken from a cluster. |
Another difference between the two is the color shade: natural citrine's color is usually pale yellow, lemon yellow, smoky yellow or greenish yellow. It's yellow color falls between the middle of the yellow spectrum to slightly on the green side of yellow and is often smoky. If the color is bright, it is like an almost ripe lemon and is never golden. Heat-treated amethyst has more of an orange-ish or amber tone - ranging on the opposite side of the yellow spectrum. What that means is that if yellow is in the center, green (and citrine) is on the left of that and orange (and heat-treated amethyst) is on the right. Heat-treated amethyst can fall anywhere on the right, from a bright goldenrod yellow (which is still yellow, but has a faint tint of orange) to orange, amber, sienna or brown.
There is something I have seen being sold for a very high price called "Ox Blood" or "Madeira" citrine. It is a darker, intensely saturated orangy-yellow color. This is higher temperature heat-treated amethyst. Rarely is natural citrine ever orange, and on the extremely rare occasion that it is, there are other minerals involved that cause the orange color, and the results look quite different from the any of the images of fake citrine that I have posted.
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| Real Smoky Citrine Sold by DoodlepunkArt |
There are many websites and books touting that iron is what colors both natural citrine and amethyst. The truth of this statement depends on whether you think citrine refers to a color or to a stone. There are other yellow quartzes, including golden healer/ferruginous quartz and tangerine/iron-stained quartz. For this reason, and also due to the difference in metaphysical properties between "iron citrine" and "natural citrine," I think "citrine" needs to refer to a specific stone, not just a yellow color. I prefer to use three different names to describe "citrines":
- Natural Iron Citrine - Yellow crystals colored by (irradiated) iron built into the crystal lattice which were exposed to heat from a natural source at some point during its formation. These would have been amethysts if they had not been exposed to natural heat. This is a very rare occurrence. Healing properties are similar to amethyst or heat-treated amethyst.
- Heat-treated Amethyst - Amethyst crystals (colored by irradiated iron built into the crystal lattice) that turned yellow after being exposed to man-made heat. This is a very common stone with healing properties are similar to amethyst.
- Aluminum Citrine, or simply Citrine. Contains no iron and doesn't require heating for its yellow color. Healing properties are very different from those of amethyst. It is a true manifestation stone which activates the solar plexus chakra. This is a very rare stone.
Natural citrine and smoky quartz are colored with aluminum and lithium, which are naturally irradiated. This is why citrine and smoky quartz have been found at the same mine. Amethyst and aluminum citrine aren't usually found together in the same location. Ametrine on the other hand may or may not be natural. I'm not sure. I have seen no significant evidence proving that it exists naturally. I've read that it is simply amethyst that was heated until it turns yellow, areas were masked with a substance such as lead, then it was exposed to radiation, which turned the unmasked areas back to its original purple color. However, I have seen no significant evidence suggesting that all ametrine is manipulated my man either. I suspect that if it does actually exist naturally, it is extremely rare, and that most of what is out there is either man-made through a heat/re-irradiation process of amethyst, or is simply iron-stained amethyst (amethyst with an orange coating of iron oxide dust on the outside.)
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| Genuine Pale, Medium and Smoky Citrines From My Collection |
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| Tumbled Fake Citrine (Heat-Treated Amethyst) |
Besides the differing metaphysical properties, here is another downside to heat-treated amethyst: stone strength. The heat treatment weakens the stone, causing minute little fractures. Do not be duped. If you think it is pretty and you choose to buy it, do not spend a high price for this material. Amethyst, especially in broken pieces, is very common and inexpensive and anyone with a kiln can bake it to create "citrine." IMHO it is unethical to sell this stuff as "citrine" (even though it is legal), even worse to call it "natural citrine" and worse yet to ask for a high price; and telling people that the treated stuff is more valuable is a downright lie. If someone wants to sell the stuff, I think they should call it what it is: Treated Citrine or Heat-Treated Amethyst
I am always adding raw citrine specimens to my
etsy store at
http://www.etsy.com/shop/DoodlepunkArt . If you don't see one and would like to get one, just convo me and I'll hook you up. I also sell smoky citrine and morion citrines like the pendant above and the specimen below. I make citrine sphere pendants like the one two photos up and raw citrine pendants like the ones you have seen in this listing. They usually go really fast, so if you want to order one and don't see any in my shop, just send me a convo and I will make one for you or give you a sneak peak of what's in the works and let you pick one. My turnaround is much quicker in the summer than in the winter, as the cold weather is not conducive to my process.
Now, take note of the color of the real citrine sold by this website:
http://mineralminers.com/html/citmins.stm Although the most of the stones are chunks or cut, the color is what you should be looking for, and they do have a couple of raw whole crystals in there.
This site will educate you about the most common fakes in the mineral/crystal/gemstone world. I posted one of their photos of face citrine at the top. Scroll down to Citrine:
http://www.the-vug.com/vug/vugfakes.html
Now, here are links to images of heat treated amethyst that came up when I searched google for "genuine citrine", and unfortunately they are all FAKE:
I hope this information is helpful. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. If you find something out there and want me to give you my opinion as to whether it's real or fake citrine, just convo me on
etsy. I am happy to help. I support other sellers of real citrine and do not like to see people getting scammed.
© Jennifer Shipley
Addendum:
11/4/13
I went to a gem and jewelry show this weekend. There was a vender selling gorgeous rough gemstones for faceting at wholesale prices. They were charging by the gram for the raw material. They called the citrine that was the color of the stuff I've got "Lemon Citrine" and were selling it at $4/gram. They were selling a very intense and saturated amber/yellow citrine at $6/gram. Some of these pieces were whole crystals and they were definitely NOT amethysts. I don't remember where they came from. The crystals were long and straight like clear quartz, not the dog-tooth shape of amethyst, and there was absolutely no fracturing that occurs with the heat process, so I am 100% certain they were the not heated, though I have never seen it that color in person before.
The Quartz Page has some examples that approach orange in color, one from Brazil and the others from Kazakhstan and Madagascar, however the color was even more bright. It was quite amazing and definitely not the typical citrine color. The saturation in color in these specimens was perfectly even and practically free of inclusions. I am sure this is why the price was so high. This is the first time I have ever seen the real thing so perfect in the rough form. AMAZING STUFF for faceting.
On another note, last night I was perusing through etsy's "unheated citrine" items and stumbled upon a woman calling herself a sage who is selling the prime example of heat-treated amethyst. She states that it is untreated, but it is obviously heat-treated amethyst. It couldn't be more obvious. The shape is dog-toothed, the color is burnt orange, there is tons of white, the tips were dark and the base was opaque white and there was the telltale crackled appearance of a low budget and haphazardly performed heat-treatment. I assumed she did not know the difference, so I sent her this message:
"Hi. I stumbled across your stones. I'm really sorry to inform you of
this, but it is heat-treated amethyst, not untreated citrine. I just
thought you should know. Good luck.
jen"
She wrote this back to me:
"Jen, thanks! I actually teach a course on stones and discuss the
differences between HT amethyst and citrine. Some may not know, however,
so it's good that you're aware and spreading the info. All of my
tumbled and my raw pieces that are not points are untreated. I buy
directly from the mines in Brazil.
Blessings, Athena"
I got a sick feeling in my gut when I read her message. Heat-treatment is typically done at the amethyst mines. I'm not sure if she is dishonest or just uninformed, but in any case I think it is the responsibility of a vendor to be educated about what they are selling, and be certain that their claims are accurate. And I feel a bit dismayed that she is "educating" people. I really don't like it when people dole out bullshit like it should be faceted and set in jewelry. So just please BE VERY LEERY, folks. Check out
The Quartz Page if you want to read more a more technical and science-y explanation of citrine. This guy really knows his stuff.
So, in an effort to support and reward those honest and knowledgeable etsy sellers that are selling the real deal, I have compiled a new list of citrine items so that you have not only my store to shop in, but also some others:
Raw Crystals:
PureSpiritCrystals currently has 5 raw whole citrine crystals for sale at very competitive prices:
These links go to lovely, real, untreated faceted citrine crystals:
These are Citrine Pendants:
