Natural Golden Topaz, Imperial Topaz, is the Gemstone for November Birthdays
Imperial topaz, the exquisite gemstone for November birthdays, is treasured for its splendid golden to reddish-brown colors. It belongs to the topaz family and is a silicate mineral made up mostly of aluminum and fluorine. The name of this gemstone hails from the 17th-century Russian tsars, who reserved the rights to the pinkish-orange topaz found in the Ural Mountains of Russia. It is also referred to as "precious topaz" to set it apart from other types of topaz. Formation and Deposits Imperial topaz typically forms in cavities in igneous (volcanic) rocks such as granite and rhyolite. The formation process involves the crystallization of magma, where topaz crystals grow in the…
Where Citrine is Found ~ November’s Second Gemstone
Think warm sunshine trapped in a stone — that’s citrine. It’s the yellow-to-orange variety of quartz, beloved for its sunny palette and toughness (Mohs ~7), and is November’s second gemstone. But when you start digging into where it comes from, the story gets a little twisty: true natural citrine is uncommon, most commercial “citrine” is heat-treated amethyst or smoky quartz, and a very special sibling — ametrine — is essentially amethyst and citrine in one crystal and comes from only one commercial source. Let's walk through where citrine is found, trade names and shades, how heat treatment turns amethyst into citrine (with the geology explained plainly) and amazing museum specimens.…
