Amethyst and Citrine
Posted by Leah on May 13, 2008
Did you know that amethyst and citrine are both quartz? Amethyst is the purple variety of quartz, and citrine is yellow. Most people familiar with semiprecious jewelry know that - but did you know that citrine is made by heating amethyst to high temperatures?
There is even a gemstone called ametrine, which has purple and yellow occurring in the same stone. It can occur naturally, but is often manmade. It is a really beautiful stone. I bought some ametrine beads at a gem show once, and just recently decided to find out more about it, and I thought the explanation of how heat is used to change the colors was really interesting.
