mineraliety: Happy November! It?s been such a great Halloween…
Happy November! It?s been such a great Halloween weekend, but we are ready to kick off November! Topaz and Citrine are the birthstones for November.
TOPAZ
The mineral Topaz is transparent save for impurities in its matrix. Orange Topaz is the state gemstone of Utah and Blue Topaz is the state stone of Texas. Topaz mineral is mentioned in the Bible in many versus, and also referred to using the name Pitdah, which means ?yellow burn? from the Sanskrit.?CITRINE
Citron fruit, with its yellow color, is the source of the word Citrine, stemming from Latin. Due to ferric impurities (iron inclusions) in Quartz, the stone takes on a yellowish to brown color a la rust, ferrous oxide. Most of the Citrine we see on the market today is actually heat treated Amethyst or Smoky Quartz. You can tell the difference between heat treated and natural citrine by small lines that appear on the stone after heat treatment. As opposed to natural Citrine which is without these lines and tends to have a more cloudy appearance. Most of the world?s Citrine comes from Brazil.?I had a blast collecting the perfect leaves with Makenzie Flynn for this month?s birthstone post.?