Category Archives: November Birthstone

Citrine – November Birthstone

It’s quite true that an overwhelming majority of commercial grade citrine is heated to either weak, watery, or garish, obviously unnatural colors. Darker colors of citrine are produced by heat treatment of amethyst and smoky quartz, and red undertones are usually – but not always – evidence of this treatment. Fine, natural citrine, however, is…

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Topaz – November Birthstone

Pink champagne. Summer apricots. Salmon orange. Baby blue. Purely colorless. And all of them internally flawless. Topaz is one of a very few gemstones that grow to extravagant sizes without sacrificing internal clarity. Most are at least loupe-clean. And there are topaz crystals that have been cut down to faceted gems of better than 20,000…

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