Citrine is one of the birthstones for November and is one of my favourites. Once described as yellow quartz, citrines were first recognized as a named gemstone in their own right in 1546 by German mineralist Georg Bauer. The name ‘citrine’ comes from the French word for lemon which is ‘citron’. The colour does vary from a light yellow to an almost orange yellow. Antique natural citrines are more likely to be a lemon yellow, although many are foiled to enhance the colour and deepen it.
The other good thing about citrine, apart from the lovely colour, is that it is a relatively hard stone, 7 on the Mohs hardness scale, and so is good for jewellery. It is part of the quartz family, along with other transparent gems such as amethyst, rose quartz and smoky quartz.
Vintage and modern citrine jewellery, like the earrings below, can be a darker colour, with some orange, as a result of heat treatment.
