November Birthstone Color and Flower & more November Birthday Symbols

The November Birthstone Color is Yellow

The November birthstone color of yellow comes from the November gemstones yellow-orange Topaz, also called golden Topaz, and yellow Citrine.

Pure Topaz is actually transparent and it is impurities that create the different colored varieties. In addition to the yellow to orange range, Topaz also occurs in exquisite shades of blue, pale green, pink and red. Natural blue Topaz is very rare and most of the blue Topaz in the market is colorless Topaz that has been treated.

Natural golden Topaz, under the trade name of Imperial Topaz, is quite rare and not often found in jewelry. Usually clear Topaz is treated to produce beautiful sunset colors such as Mystic Topaz which is often found in November jewelry.

Most precious Topaz used in jewelry comes from Brazil and Russia, but Imperial Topaz is only found in Brazil.

Discover more about topaz gemstones and topaz history and symbolism.

The Alternative November Birthstone is Citrine

The second or alternative birthstone for November is Citrine, a pale yellow quartz which occurs very rarely in nature. The only location known to date is a mine in Bolivia. Citrine gemstones are also known as lemon quartz or cognac quartz.

When Amethyst quartz is heated it transforms to Citrine quartz and in some deposits geological heating has caused this process to occur naturally. In other instances Amethyst is mined and then manually heated to produce Citrine.  This process is followed in Brazilian mines where much of the world's Amethyst is found.

When both Amethyst and Citrine are intermingled in the stone, it is called Ametrine, and can be found naturally in Bolivia.

Citrine is a readily available gemstone and is popular in November earrings and other gemstone jewelry.

Gemmology reference: GIA Education Topaz, Citrine, Ametrine.

Discover more about the history of citrine.