Citrine is a chemical compound of colloidal iron hydrates and silicon dioxide. It is any cluster or quartz crystal that is yellow and sometimes orange in color. This gemstone is rarely found naturally and commercial citrine found in the market today is usually heated smoky quartz or amethyst. Citrine belongs to the several varieties of quartz that forms macroscopic  crystals like the Milky Quartz known to be the cloudy white variety, Rose Quartz as the pink to pinkish red variety, Rock Crystal as the clear variety, Prasiolite as the leek-green variety and the Amethyst known to be the purple gemstone variety, as well as the Smoky Quartz which is the gray to brown variety.
Often enough, the citrine gemstone is confused with topaz, which is much more expensive but with several similarities with citrine such as its yellow-orange color. The legitimacy of citrine as a gemstone in itself has been soured by unscrupulous dealers by selling these gems as topaz and they can get away with it because it is really difficult to distinguish a yellow topaz from citrine using only the naked eye. This resulted to making people who fancy such gems wary on buying them because they see the gemstone as a lower quality of topaz or a fake topaz all in all.
During the ancient times, citrine was used to ward off evil thoughts and protection against snake venoms and in the 16 th century, all sparkling yellow stones were considered to be citrine. The gemstone is also known as the “sun stone” and it is believed to hold pure sunlight in its crystal, the early mornings sunlight. It is also regarded as the stone of the Roman messenger god, Mercury and the “merchants stone.” It is believed to have powers to improve ones communication and  selling skills as well as the power to attract income or money. The gemstone is also known not to absorb any form of negativity and along with topaz; citrine is also considered as the birthstone for the month of November.
The leading miners of natural citrine is the country of India and Rio Grande do Sul is the state where most production of natural citrine comes from. The notable places where there are sources of citrine are in the Ural Mountains of Russia, Dauphine in France, Brazil and Madagascar. Most natural citrine stones usually start out as an amethyst but with the heat that comes from magmatic bodies nearby they turn out and change into citrine stones. Artificially produced citrines are usually reddish or in orange hue, compared to those found in nature which are naturally pale-yellow in color. Theres one variety of citrine that has a darker color than its usual stones and that is the Madeira Citrine, named after the Madeira wines that resembles its color; they are more valuable compared to the lighter yellow-colored citrines.
Citrine according to astrology is the gemstone of the Zodiac sign Leo, Aries, Gemini and Libra and it brings spiritual powers and releases joy. It is the stone that provides optimism, promotes creativity and gives mental clarity as well as confidence and self-esteem. The stone is also believed to have recharging capabilities and energizing effect that makes it a magical variety among gemstones.
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