The November Birthstone: Citrine

I'm very fond of citrine, the gemstone ranging from a pale yellow to a dark orange. First, I just love the colour yellow; second, citrine is an extremely versatile gemstone that looks great with many different colours. I wear it often with black because I like the contrast of the yellow against dark colours. I like a neutral colour that I call champagne or sand - it's a version of khaki almost, but with golden tones instead of brown - Anne Klein calls it safari. A paler citrine is gorgeous with it. In the summer, nothing looks fresher than citrine bracelets and necklaces paired with white linen or cotton.
Citrine is a variety of quartz with a moh's hardness of 7, a relatively durable stone although it can be scratched, and prolonged exposure to heat and sunlight will change its colour .
Citrine is believed to have many mystical qualities. It is known as the "money" stone or "merchant's" stone; some merchants will put a citrine in their cash registers to draw money to them. The ancients believed that putting a citrine on the forehead would increase psychic powers, and it supposedly will increase memory, aid in curing depression and diabetes, and foster creative expression, especially for writers.
The citrine's name comes from the French word for lemon, citron. The yellow colour is from the presence of iron. Ironically, if you own a citrine, you probably also own an amethyst! This is because the natural citrine is rather rare and most today are made by exposing an amethyst or smoky quartz to high heat to turn it into a citrine. You will be able to find the citrine bracelets on this page on the Cluny Grey Jewelry website at Citrine Bracelets.
Happy Birthday, November!