November Birthstone

November Birthstone
Citrine, Topaz.


Citrine:











Citrine is any quartz crystal or cluster that is yellow or orange in color. Although often cut as a gemstone, Citrine is actually somewhat rare in nature. Most have been heat treated Citrines on the market. Specimens of low grade, inexpensive amethyst or smoky quartz are often cooked at high temperatures to produce the more profitable orange yellow Citrine. Citrines whose colors have been produced by artificial means tend to have much more of an orange or reddish cast than those found in nature, which are usually a pale yellow. May have started out as much of the natural Citrine amethyst but heat from nearby magmatic bodies may have caused the change to Citrine.
Interestingly, a popular gemstone on the market is a mixture of half amethyst and half and is given the name ametrine Citrine.He then a portion of the stone with beta radiation which bombards Citrine converts back to amethyst. By using a metal mask (possibly in the shape of a heart) to block a portion of the beta radiation, an unusual Citrine and amethyst gem is produced.
Citrine is the birthstone for November and the traditional anniversary gemstone for the 13th year of marriage. Its name comes from an old French word for lemon -- "citrin". A variety of quartz and the "sister stone" to the purple variety known as Amethyst, citrine comes in a wide range of colors. Some believe that some citrine may have actually begun as amethyst, but that nearby molten rock changed it to the yellow form of quartz.


Topaz:









Topaz is commonly found in gravel as rounded pellets, the result of being worn down by water and sand for thousands of years. The mineral is a silicate of aluminum containing about 20 percent water and fluorine. The relative proportions of these impurities are responsible for the color of the stones. Topaz is the birthstone for November and the Scorpio zodiac sign.
Topaz is the hardest silicate mineral and one of the hardest minerals in nature. Topaz crystals can reach incredible size of several hundred pounds. Topaz can make very attractive mineral specimens due to their high luster, nice colors and well formed and multifaceted crystals.
Topaz may be colorless, yellow, orange, red, blue and green.