Gemstone Of The Day - Citrine

Citrine is the yellow color member of the quartz mineral group. Having a chemistry of SiO2, and a crystal structure the same as quartz, citrine gets its color due to Fe impurities throughout the structure. Natural citrine is rare; most commercial citrine is heat-treated amethyst or smoky quartz. However, a heat-treated amethyst will have small lines in the crystal, as opposed to a natural citrine's cloudy or smokey appearance. Brazil is the leading producer of citrine, with much of its production coming from the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The name is derived from the Latin word citrina which means "yellow" and is also the origin of the word "citron". Sometimes citrine and amethyst can be found together in the same crystal, which is then referred to as ametrine. Citrine has been referred to as the "merchant's stone" or "money stone", due to a superstition that it would bring prosperity.