![]() ![]() These bubbles are the best way to tell at a glance if the stone is real. While citrine may present with inclusions, they won’t be round bubbles. Check the stone at 10X magnification and look for bubbles. While the majority of faked citrine are heated amethyst, some unscrupulous vendors have tried to sell faceted gemstones or even crystal points made of glass.Ī beginner at buying faceted stones can easily be fooled by a glass replica, and spend big bucks on something that has no real value.įortunately, this is one of the easiest fakes to spot if you have a loupe. Spot-checking for Glass in Faceted Citrine If not knowing if a stone is “natural” keeps you up at night, then I’d suggest avoiding citrine altogether. You may or may not ever be able to tell, and even paying for a lab to test them doesn’t 100% guarantee results. My honest advice is to enjoy what you have and not get caught up on whether it was heated in the ground or in a furnace. The irradiation process might seem like a great tell… but it also occurs naturally and can change the colors of the stone. There are also newer fakes that pose the same problems, primarily irradiated amethyst and smoky quartz. It might feel unfair, but that’s the way the game is played on the market. Here’s the deal: heat treatments for amethyst are over 2,000 years old, and there is no obligation for a vendor to disclose their citrine as heat-treated. There are a couple of good indicators, but telling them apart isn’t always possible. Heat-treated amethyst is almost identical to naturally forming citrine. Related: Real vs Fake Strawberry Quartz Fake vs Real Citrine This can all be done artificially in an oven if it didn’t come to the right temperature in the ground. Deep orange citrine, also called Madera citrine, is heated to higher temperatures. More Heat, More ColorĬitrine can be heated further, resulting in orange coloration and finally a dark amber. In between is the stage where prasiolite is formed, which is even rarer than natural citrine. You can have formations where the same crystals are partially citrine and amethyst. Studies on heat treatment show that temperatures under 420☌ result in amethyst, and those over 440☌ results in the formation of citrine.Īmetrine occurs naturally due to heat zoning. Remember, the only difference is the highest heat reached by the crystal during its formation. Instead, you end up with a treated stone identical to real citrine. Heat treatment of amethyst doesn’t damage the crystalline structure or the hardness of the stone at all. Both Are a Variety of Quartzīoth real citrine and fake citrine are a variety of quartz with almost identical physical properties. The vast majority of fake citrine is simply heated amethyst. The difference is in how hot the molten stone got, after a certain point the iron in amethyst becomes a yellow color. Let’s Talk Fake CitrineĬitrine is a rarer chemical than amethyst, but it has an almost identical chemical makeup. Let’s get to it, and I’ll show you how to tell if you have real citrine or something else. Fortunately, there are a few signs that will let you know if the stone you’re holding is likely to be real or something else. Citrine is a beautiful stone, but knowing whether or not a specimen is real can be a huge toss-up. ![]()
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