JewelStruck Blog

The history behind citrine is the next thing we would love to discuss in a Gemstone Each Month Series (GEMS) for november.

From the childhood times, I always had fascination with the history behind everything.  I wanted to know how it came into existence, how it became famous, who discovered and so many questions… For citrine I had similar things coming to my mind, and as a result I did some research on it. There are very few references in history of citrine, maybe because of the stone’s relative rarity, especially in the ancient world. Here I’m listing below a few historical references of citrine… who used it? when was it most used.. etc etc..

Historical references of citrine

• The tenth stone? – Some Biblical scholars believe that citrine was the 10th of 12 stones in Aaron’s breastplate described in the book of Exodus. The stone was referred to as chrysolitus (Greek for “golden stone”) in both Roman Catholic and Latin versions of the Old Testament, leading to some confusion over whether it was citrine, topaz, or beryl.
• Greece’s Hellenistic Age – In ancient Greece, citrine first gained popularity as a decorative gem during the Hellenistic Age, roughly between 300 and 150 B.C.
• Intaglio (relief carving) - Romans were among the first to make the use of citrine as carved intaglio and cabochon in the first centuries after the birth of Christ.  Intaglio is cutting or engraving – a figure cut into something, as a gem, so as to make a design depressed below the surface of the material.

Intaglio - Carved Ring

• Naphtali tribe – Citrine is also associated with Naphtali tribe of Israel.
• To adorn weapons – In the 17th century, Scottish weapon makers used citrine to adorn dagger handles, sometimes even using a single large citrine crystal as the handle itself.
• Romantic citrine - During 1837-1860, citrine became more available and was increasingly used in jewelry. Queen Victoria and her love for scottish things, helped citrine jewelry with romantically scottish settings to be in trend.

Image credit antique rings,

You might be interested in:

• GEMS February – Mythology & History behind Amethsyt
• GEMS December – The history behind Ruby and its applications
• GEMS November – How to Care for Citrine
• GEMS May – History behind Emeralds
• GEMS November – Metaphysical and Healing properties of Citrine

As the name suggest, we have planned to research more – analyze more – collect more and post more about one particular gemstone each month.

You will still find regular interesting posts as before on Jewelry in general, but just more about one particular gemstone each month. All these posts will be categorized as GEMS.

November Gemstone – Citrine

Being one of the three traditional November birthstones, choosing Citrine for GEM of this month was easier.

Citrine is the French word for lemon. This gemstone has a beautiful yellow color. It was believed that is was sent as a gift from the sun. It has been used as an antidote for snake venom. Citrine symbolizes joy and happiness.

Citrine Bracelet

It is a variety of quartz whose color ranges from a pale yellow to brown. It is nearly impossible to tell cut citrine from yellow topaz visibly. Although often cut as a gemstone, citrine is actually somewhat rare in nature. It has ferric impurities and most of citrines in the market are either heat treated amethyst or smoky quartz. One can find natural citrine with low levels of Iron in the mines of Brazil. Spain, Scotland, Argentina, Namibia and Myanmar also have mines with natural deposits.

So this was just to start with Citrine -  The November GEM..  do wait for more posts on Citrine coming up sooner.

If you love citrine, have created something beautiful using citrine, or if you just want to share some info about citrine. Please leave a comment or email us at :- info@jewelstruck.com

Obviously if its interesting and we publish it, you will be getting credit for whatever you are sharing :-)

Image Credit :-  londontanty

Citrine is a variety of quartz whose color ranges from a pale yellow to brown. It is nearly

You might be interested in:

• GEMS November – How to Care for Citrine
• GEMS November – Citrine Mines & Types of Citrine
• Ruby chosen for Gemstone Each Month Series (GEMS) December
• Gemstone Each Month Series (GEMS) – Emerald for May
• Amethyst for Gemstone Each Month Series (GEMS) – February