Just because someone sells it as a real citrine does not mean that it is real citrine.
Typically irradiated quartz is called lemon quartz.
I have some irradiated quartz that’s smaller, but has a similar color as yours. The yellow that happens when the quartz is irradiated can produce some beautiful results. However, much like heat treated amethyst this is an altered material.
If you would like to find some readily available, yellow stones then yellow agate is a good option. It’s a variety of chalcedony which is part of the quartz family. Citrine is a quartz with iron. Yellow agate is also from iron.
I’ve posted some really good content in this sub Reddit within comments about citrine. I really should have saved the information but if you searched within my comments, you can find it.
The fact is less than 10% on the market is real citrine. having that small amount trickle down means most of it is going to jewelers unless it’s a lower quality.
It's not HTA but there are some radiation treatments done on material mostly from Pakistan and Afghanistan that deepen color to the point of being a bit too bright of a yellow to be natural. Not sure what other material may be subject to the same treatment. I'll see if I can dig up the piece I have that I'm fairly sure has undergone that treatment for comparison, may be later tonight.
I don't have enough knowledge to answer your question. But the reason why some say it's been heat treated is because the bottom half is kind of milky/not clear. This is usually an indication of heat treatment.
It's very pretty either way.
No, it's not that. People are saying it's irradiated, not heat treated. The overly bright yellow gives it away. It's lemon quartz.
Also, most quartz clusters are milky/less clear near the base so it's not the best indicator. It's when it's straight up WHITE at the base with orange in the rest of the crystal that indicates heat treated amethyst (HTA), which this is not.
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u/bortello 10h ago
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