Semi precious stone jewellery looks so beautiful, not only on its own, but especially when it is set in silver. This bright precious metal can really add to the sparkle of a newly created piece. Silver sets it off very nicely, with a cool shiny ‘white’ against the warm mellow yellows of citrine crystal. This is silver crystal jewellery at its best, for sure.
Citrine-Yellow Quartz
Citrine is a variety of quartz. It ranges from yellow to orange to golden brown shades of transparent quartz. Citrine’s name is derived from the French word “citron” which means ”lemon” because many citrines have a juicy lemon color. Citrines often have ferric impurities and are rarely found in nature as such.
Most commercial citrine is in fact artificially heated amethyst or smoky quartz. The artificially generated color of citrine tends to have a much more orange or reddish caste than that found in nature, which is more usually pale yellow. Citrine is made by heating amethyst and, in fact, may be returned to a 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 nature is asociated with many magical and healing powers. It is thought to stimulate the memory, influence dreams, be a general talisman of protection and to enhance creativity. One of the main attributes of the stone is its alleged power to protect against snake venom. Sometimes citrine is often mistaken for more expensive orange -yellow topaz and is often sold as topaz by unscrupulous dealers. 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 sunlight. This darkening is permanent, so care is needed to keep the gemstone out of excessive sunlight.
Some other characteristics of Citrine are as follows:
Citrine – Main Characteristics
Classification-Mineral
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. It makes elegant center stones for rings and pendants. Citrine when paired with diamonds and white gold enhances the beauty of the jewelry. Online jewelry retailers like Angara bring you an exquisite variety of citrine and other colored gemstone jewelry.
By Rajesh Kumar For more information please visit here-http://www.angara.com/gembuilder_load.do
So there you have it. A lot of good information about this beautiful semi precious stone, citrine which can make unique silver jewellery really unique. The warmth of the citrine color is very appealing and is a very popular purchase.
