Evidence
Does yellow prove citrine?
Colour is a starting observation. Mineral identity needs more than a photograph.
Hue, cloudiness, faces and visible fractures. The mineral identity of an unknown yellow stone.
Stone Explorer Citrine comparison tool
Citrine specimens, side by side.
Compare 4 natural quartz records, including citrine and an ametrine boundary, then follow quartz formation.
File 003 · 4 specimen records
Two ways in
Each specimen opens its own file.
Evidence
What the photograph can show
Use the images to compare stones. Check the record for identity and treatment.
Evidence
Does pale mean untreated?
Pale yellow, orange tips and a white base cannot establish treatment on their own.
Check the treatment history for the individual specimen or lot. Some colour histories remain difficult to resolve, even with laboratory work.
Evidence
Does the shape reveal a mine?
A shape or colour zone cannot establish a mine. Locality belongs to the specimen record.
These localities follow the photograph catalogues. A country name supplies neither the age of a specimen nor its growth duration.
Sources and image credits
Sources and image credits
Mineral references describe quartz. Specimen catalogues record the photographed objects and their localities.
Handbook of Mineralogy: QuartzMineral reference
- Use
- Quartz composition, structure, hardness and geological settings.
- Limit
- Describes the mineral species. It does not identify an individual specimen.
- Link
- View source
Donna Beaton: Citrine from ZambiaMineral reference
- Use
- A study of Zambian citrine, its inclusions and identification limits.
- Limit
- Natural colour was represented by the supplier. The report keeps that qualification.
- Link
- View source
GIA: Artificially Induced Color in GemstonesMineral reference
- Use
- Colour centres and the effects of heating and irradiation.
- Limit
- Treatment response depends on the material and its history.
- Link
- View source
Quartz colour researchMineral reference
- Use
- Trace elements, structural defects and colour in quartz.
- Limit
- A single colour mechanism does not describe every citrine.
- Link
- View source
Citrine quartz, AMGL 79477Photograph
- Credit
- Rama / CC BY-SA 3.0 FR (via Wikimedia Commons)
- Licence
- CC BY-SA 3.0 France
- Source
- Wikimedia Commons
- Treatment
- Not recorded; photograph is not proof of untreated colour.
- Image
- Original photograph; display crop only.
Citrine, yellow variety of quartzPhotograph
- Credit
- © Raimond Spekking / CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)
- Licence
- CC BY-SA 4.0
- Source
- Wikimedia Commons
- Treatment
- Not recorded; photograph is not proof of untreated colour.
- Image
- Original photograph; display crop only.
Quartz (var. Citrine), photo 224146Photograph
- Credit
- Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com / CC BY-SA 3.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)
- Licence
- CC BY-SA 3.0
- Source
- Wikimedia Commons
- Treatment
- Not recorded; photograph is not proof of untreated colour.
- Image
- Original photograph; display crop only.
Names and treatmentQuartz
- Scope
- Citrine is a colour variety of quartz. Colour and trade names do not create additional mineral species. Heating some amethyst produces yellow to orange quartz; that treatment belongs in the material record.
Colour, zoning and clarityMaterial reference
Yellow, orange and brownish orange form a colour range within quartz. Lemon, honey and Madeira are colour or trade descriptions. Colour can vary across a crystal; clear and cloudy areas describe transparency. The Araçuaí, Bahia and Pederneira photographs show these observations within individual crystals and groups. All are quartz.
Open sourceAmetrine and golden needlesMaterial reference
Ametrine combines yellow citrine and purple amethyst zones in one quartz crystal. Golden rutile is a separate mineral enclosed in quartz; golden needles and a yellow quartz body describe different things. The Anahí reference is catalogued as ametrine, with its purple region most visible in this view.
Open sourceOrigin, colour and treatmentMaterial reference
Natural origin describes how the quartz formed. Natural colour describes how it became yellow. A treatment record addresses later intervention, including heating. Much commercial citrine is heated quartz. None of the specimen photographs supplies an untreated-colour determination.
Open source
