Hi all…! I was wondering? Have any of you ever come across the
gem CITRINE before ? I believe i have , and as i have never
dealt with or seen this stone before , i wonder if any of you
have any input on the subject like what it looks like ? color?
clarity? sizes that you have delt with before , in grams, cut or
uncut ? values? I have two uncut stones about 7 or 8 grams ,
crystal clear(no inclusions) light yellow with a tint of
orange…?
any ideas?
Hi GREG Citrine is quartz is from the family of the amethyst
indeed you can change the color of the the amethyst into
citrine. It comes from Brazil and some times comes in two colors
and it’s called Ametrin . more just ask.
Vicky
An Answer: Citrine is a member of the quartz group. It’s color is
Light yellow to golden brown. Being that it is quartz it’s
hardness is 7 on the Mohs scale, cleavage is none its refractive
index is 1.544-1553 Natural Citrine is rare. Deposits are in
Brazil (Bahia, Goyez, Minas Gerais), Malagasy Republic, the U.S.
,Spain, Russia, France ,Scotland.
A Lot of what is found on the market is heat-treated Amethyst or
Smoky Quartz. It can be used as a November Birthstone
alternative and thirteenth wedding anniversary stone. Retail
Price per cut stone: a top quality round 1ct average price range
falls $21.00 to $38.00 Some people ask More others ask less.
I hope this helps.
Al T.
http://www.atgem.com
greg - if you haven’t encountered citrine before you’re in for a
treat. citrine is the twin sister of amethyst; when heated, by
nature or shop, it turns into citrine. when the two are still
attached you have ametrine. i use a lot of citrine, ametrine &
amethyst in my pieces. (by the way, before a stone is cut we
usually call it rough or rock.) citrine can be a ‘hollandaise
sauce’ pale yellow all the way to a rich ‘glen livet’ golden
brown with a touch of green; the greeny bit sets it off from
smoky quartz by a mile. the darker citrine was - is - often
fraudulently sold as ‘precious or imperial topaz’. the
intensity of the yellow depends on the amount of iron it
contains. the shade that’s worked best for me for jewelry is a
clear, even warm deep yellow sort of like used beer . you can get
india-cut 6mm bead 16" strings, but the whole string of them is
never usable - out of round, varying colors, fractures, people
who use the beads get the faceted ones where the shortcomings
are less obvious. i prefer the super fancy cuts & 12x10 octagon
(emerald with 45 deg corners) to the more static cuts. if you
plan to cut the 35 -40 carats of rough that you have, aim for
the cuts that put the color zoning as a design element rather
than have the stones look like inferior material - like all at
one end shading to light in a pear cut. in other words, treat
citrine just like amethyst - ive
Hi, Citrine is yellow Quartz , Colors varys from Faint Yellow to
deep pure yellow to olden yellow to reddish Yellow , and in
various shades of yellowish brown: Heat treated amythest produces
rich reddish metirial known as Rio grande Citrine, Madeira
Citrine and palmyra Citrine.
Ordeinary Citrine often comes in sizes capable of cutting
flawless gems over several hundred carats.
Price Ranges for Rough from
Rio grande Facet grade 1.3ct - 3ct ct 1.50 -3.75
Rio grande Facet grade 3ct - 5ct ct 3.50 -6.50
Rio grande Facet grade 5ct and over ct 3.00 -15.00
Madiera &Palmyra 1-3ct ct 0.40 -1.00
Madiera &Palmyra 3ct & over ct 1.00 -2.00
Cut stones
Very Exceptional Orangey-Yellow Gems ct 20.00 - 30.00
Rio Grande Dark Hues to 15ct ct 18.00 - 25.00
Madiara grades to 10ct ct 10.00 - 35.00
Prices from Standered Catalog of gemvalues
Images available at http://www.ahmeds.com/shop/
Look under Citrine.
Ahmed Shareek
ICQ 50250659
e-mail Shareek@ahmeds.com
Crescent Gems
http://www.ahmeds.com/shop
Tucson - Gemstone Row 26, Mezzanine floor, Holiday Inn City
Center.
Hi Greg, I just reviewed all the responses you have gotten about
citrine and couldn’t help diving into the fray. I would take
issue with the generalizations about origin as many of the the
deposits cited are no longer significant producers. Furthermore,
the only large natural deposit in production is the Anahi Mine
in Bolivia, which is the source of Ametrine. ( this mine is near
the Brazilian border and is accessible primarily by bush plane
four hundred kilometers out of Santa Cruz, Bolivia). The Anahi
mine is a sophisticated operation which is vertically integrated
and, therefore, no longer markets its’ rough. Most of its’
current production is devoted to producing amethyst. As for heat
treated amethyst /citrine, almost all of it comes from Rio
Grande do Sul in Southern Brazil. As for relative values, if you
are an avid shopper and attend any of the major shows, you will
be able to buy citrine at a fraction of the cost of Amethyst
even tho it is derived therefrom. Citrine has limited appeal in
the Western American market, but like so many other stones,
marketability is sometimes associated with climate inasmuch as
cooler colors tend to have appeal in warm climates and vice
versa. I encountered occaisional pieces of Ametrine rough in
Zambia, but I suspect that it was heat treated material. Ron at
Mills Gem, Los Osos, CA.
Yes! Citrine is a stone that ranges from yellow gold color to
very bright orange and sometimes they are heat treated to effect
color. But like any quartz derived stone if you heat too much
it will lose it’s color. Like any stones it can contain
inclusions(Little cracks) or even be a bit cloudy but generally
it is easy to find very clear citrines. It belongs to the
quartz family and sometimes some like to call it topaz same
family but slightly different crystallyne form. Citrine cannot
be soldered and it’s mohs hardeness is a 7.
Citrine Quartz,the yellow,orange,reddish-orange is almost
completely created by heating Amethyst.If you see a piece in
nature,it was orignally Amethyst and was heated in nature to
450C,and changed to Citrine.The progression and temperatures to
effect changes in Amethyst is 390C to lighten very dark
material,it fades all the way to (clear)white,then at 450C
returns color as Citrine.Some are more stubborn and need
tempertures up to 550C.Over 500C for extended periods and Quartz
can go to White again.Some can be restored by irradiation to
50-100 megarads,Gamma.Many an impatient treater has opened the
furnace door prematurely,seeing the middle step of clear material
assumes he has over heated.The progression is
Amethsyt,clear,Citrine,clear. This process is done
professionaly,primarily on the Amethyst that is pale,or is
showing zones or brown body color.These brownish ones give the
best darkest Orange color.The primary producer of the world’s
citrine is Brazil,most notable Rio Grande do
Sul,Maramba(Para,State),and Brezeina,Bahia.The better
colors,going into reddish are produced in Rio Grande do
Sul(mulitonnage annually),and Maramba(a production in
decline).The material from Bahia has an overall lighter and more
brownish cast.The Amethyst in Uruguay when heated turns to either
a lemony yellow,or a very dark reddish brown.Here I want to
mention the term “Madeira”,this is often misused to describe the
better colors resembling Imperial Topaz.In truth,the word
“Madeira” is the dark reddish or brown inferior material.The word
Madeira in Portuguese is a color description translates reddish
brown. To further confuse the issue,some Smoky Quartz,irradiated
in Nature,will heat to a lemon or even greenish Citrine on lower
temperatures of 3-400F.In the last few years,there has been quite
a bit of development to irradiate some clear quartz to induce
color. On dosage of 50-100 megarads,gamma,the clear quartz goes
to opaque Smoky color,then is heated in just a household toaster
oven at 3-400F to create mostly yellow,but all colors of Citrine
can be achieved,depending the origin of the material,including
Green.Not all clear Quartz will irradiate to color.Some go only
Smoky Quartz,and for this you use dosage very low,.5-1.5
megarads,gamma.In Brazil,and worldwide there is a cousin of the
Rose Quartz,often termed “milk Quartz”.A clear material with
light to heavy silking. This material goes 100% Lemon Citrine
when irradiated,and subsequently heated.All except the “Conga
Rosa” mine which may be the worlds only source of Rose Quartz
terminated crystals,which goes strawberry Red when processed as
above. A real interesting true story,in Brezeina,Bahia,Brazil the
citrine is more often made by burying the brownish Amethyst to
cook in the sandy ground outside with just the near equator
sunlight.Due to the expense and time to procure an electric or
gas oven,and the operational costs,lack of electricity in these
remote mining areas,this is the preferable method. Another
strange one,is the Bolivian Amethyst/Ametrine(citrine and
Amethyst in one stone).The “Trine” or Citrine part is naturally
occuring.If you heat the “Trine” to clear,then irradiate to 60
megarads,it returns as solid Amethyst. For those interested,I have
written a bit more with photos on this subject at my website at
this URL
http://www.liccini.com/Treating/Quartz/Quartz.htm
Mark Liccini
http://www.LICCINI.com
Exhibiting Tucson GL&W show,Holiday Inn Broadway,Rm.122 Mezzenine
Tiffany, Inclusions are foreign material embedded in the gemstone
Ahmed, I’m wondering if the “Standard Catalog of Gem Values” is
a commonly found book. Is it based upon U.S. market value or
does it include international values? I will be traveling to
Brasil in a couple of months and would like to purchase some of
the gems which are mined there. I’m not a gemologist but will be
receiving tips from one. If you could give me any info on the
book and its publisher I would truly appreciate it! Need some
educating!
Obrigado!
Jennifer Dewey - Jewelry Designs
New Orleans, LA - USA
(504) 945-0939
@jennsjewels
The passion flowers are still blooming here…
Jennifer, The Van Nostrand gem price guide was originally
compiled by John Sinkankas. It has subsequently been taken over
by another person…I don’t remember who, but you will be able
to get a copy form Barnes and Noble or Amazon.I got ahold of a
copy of the revised edition several years ago. It is a classic
and is more valuable for its’ definition of grading systems and
classification of sources than it is for values. Value in
colored gemstones is so ephemeral that no book could possibly
stay in touch with the constantly changing market.
Your best survival tool in Brazil will be your attitude and a
certain knowledge of the system. Forget buying stones in Rio as
the price goes up in relation to distance from the source. Belo
Horizonte is not a hell of a lot better.Serious dealing begins
in Governador Valadares and Telofilo Otoni, depending on what
you are buying. If you also want rough, you might do well to
continue on to Aracuai, although your chances of getting deals
on quality rough are slim to none unless you are in the market
for large quantities.
You will be eaten alive if you don’t haggle. A neophyte American
buyer, especially a female, is considered to be filet mignon and
is eagerly sought after by the typical Brazilian dedicated
carnivore. Remember too that everything is highly
systematized…everyone is on the take. Your cab driver will
take you to whomever is paying the highest “comisao” The
"pedrista" on the street will take you to his employer and/or
whomever is kicking back best. You can be sure that you will
never get the straight scoop on anything. So, what the
hey!..forewarned is forearmed! It is still a hell of a lot of
fun! ( I might add that a small flashlight and an optivisor are
really helpful) and…never drink more than two Caipirinhas,
back to back…one if you are small! Ron at Mills Gem, Los Osos,
CA.