I was asked today about treated gemstones in particular Citrine and weather all Citrine sold in natural and thought I might pass on a little detail.
Most commercially available Citrine is indeed man heated Amethyst.
Amethyst naturally forms in purple to lilic tones in volcanic rock as it cools, however if it is subjected to heat by nearby volcanic activity anytime after it initially forms it changes colour and is known as Citrine. This sort of natural occurrence is however rare and this natural citrine tends to be more straw coloured than the deep golden colour of citrine produced from man induced heating. The prices tend to be way higher
Ametrine is an amethyst that has been semi heated, although there have been reports of man induced Ametrine all are material in Ametrine is natural, this is predominantly purple with straw and golden coloured viens and streaks within the stone.
Most Citrine used in Jewellery is heated after extraction, much in the way that most Blue Topaz sold in jewellery shops is heated and altered in colour by man.
If we are selling naturally occurring citrine we tend to label it natural citrine. most of our stock in this stone is in the form of Polished points Spheres an tumble stones however we often have a few natural points, clusters in natural citrine are very rare however.
Danny
