Citrine is transparent, coarse-grained variety of the silica mineral quartz. This semiprecious gemstone is valued for its yellow to brownish colour as it resembles to the rarer Topaz. This is actually a beautiful translucent yellow gemstone. It is a popular and affordable alternative to the much more expensive yellow sapphire or yellow diamond. To create wonderful multi-coloured jewellery, it is often combined with other stones such as Peridot, Amethyst and Garnet. It may be distinguished from topaz by its inferior hardness and from decolorized amethyst by its lack of reddish cast.

Citrine is the stone for the month of November. Citrine along with Topaz is birthstones of Scorpio, i.e. Oct 24 - Nov 21 whereas this is the anniversary gemstone for the 13th year of marriage.

Origin of Citrine
The history of the citrine is closely interwoven with that of the topaz, and coincides with it completely when it comes to the interpretation of alleged miraculous powers. The name `citrine` was derived from "citron", a French word meaning "lemon". Citrine has been popular for thousands of years and used to be revered for its rarity, though that has changed with time. The ancient Romans used it for beautiful jewellery.

Appearance of Citrine
Natural citrine is rare compared to amethyst or smoky quartz, both of which are often heated to turn their natural colour into that of citrine. Many people have come to know and love this stone under the name gold topaz, or Madeira or Spanish topaz; although in fact it has very little in common with the higher-quality gemstone Topaz - except for a few nuances of colour. Citrine can be easily scratched.

Colour of Citrine
Its colour ranges from Pale yellow to a Madeira orange in all of its glorious golden and yellow colours. The yellow colour is from the presence of iron while the darker the colour, the higher is the grade. The most sought-after stones have a clear, radiant yellowish to brownish red. This gemstone permanently changes colour if left in the sunlight for several hours. The larger the stone, the more golden the tone is.

Varieties of Citrine
Most of the Citrine gemstones available today are heat-treated Amethyst or Smoky Quartz. The top yellow colour which is not easily available is called Madeira Citrine and Golden Citrine.

Benefits of Citrine
Citrine is valuable in the treatment of depression, it eliminates self-destructive tendencies. It is said to stimulate memory. It aids digestion and removes toxins from the body. Citrine is a good healing stone, especially for heart, kidney and liver. It helps fighting diabetes as well. Citrine symbolizes light-heartedness, joy and happiness. Citrine is a great protective talisman. It calms and soothes. This is the signature of wisdom and peace. It stimulates the mental body and aids the opening of the bridge between higher mental body and intuitional levels. Citrine is said to help one to connect with spirit. It enhances creativity and also motivates writers. Citrine is known as the lucky "Merchants Stone".