Most of the citrine sold today started out purple. It was amethyst until someone heated it, and that's why so many "citrine" clusters glow a deep burnt orange. Real citrine is quieter: a pale, sunny yellow, the color of lemonade in a glass.
The citrine meaning follows that sunshine. Known as the merchant's stone, citrine stands for optimism, confidence and a hopeful outlook on money and work. Below you'll find what it means, how people use it, and the one color clue that tells you which kind of citrine you're holding.
Citrine quick facts
- Chakra: Solar plexus, often sacral too
- Zodiac: Aries, Gemini, Leo, Libra
- Element: Fire
- Planet: The Sun
- Color: Pale lemon to soft honey gold (natural), deep orange to reddish brown (heated)
- Hardness: 7 on the Mohs scale
- Commonly from: Brazil, Madagascar, Zambia, Bolivia, the Congo
- Pairs with: green aventurine, tiger's eye, clear quartz
A stone of sunshine, money and nerve
Citrine has three big associations, and all of them come back to its color.
Optimism. A yellow this warm is hard to look at without feeling a little lighter. People reach for citrine on gray days, or in gray seasons, to keep their outlook bright.
Abundance. Shopkeepers tuck a piece of citrine into the cash drawer for a good day of trade, which is how it earned the name merchant's stone. Today it sits on desks, beside registers and in the corner of home offices as a symbol of prosperity and a focus for money goals.
Confidence. Citrine is linked to personal power. It's a favorite before a job interview, a first day, a sale or any moment that asks you to speak up for yourself.
Its name comes from the French word citron, lemon. For centuries jewelers sold every yellow gem as "topaz," and citrine was swept up in the mix. That old confusion is why the two still share November as a birthstone.
Why citrine belongs to the solar plexus
The solar plexus chakra sits just above the navel, and traditions tie it to willpower, self-esteem and a sense of who you are. Its color is yellow, so citrine was a natural match. Many guides also place it at the sacral chakra just below, the center of creativity and joy.
The zodiac links follow the sun. Citrine is ruled by the Sun and the element of fire, which makes it a classic stone for Leo, the Sun's own sign, and for Aries, a fellow fire sign. Gemini comes in through its ruling planet, Mercury, named for the Roman god of merchants, a natural fit for the merchant's stone. Libra appears on most modern lists for its love of ease and balance.
What people use citrine for
- A bright reminder to stay hopeful when things feel heavy
- A focus for goals around work, savings and new projects
- A confidence charm for interviews, sales and first days
- A warm presence in an office, a shop or a creative space
- A good luck stone for business, kept where money comes in
- A marker for fresh starts, set out at the beginning of a season or a plan
How to use citrine
Wear it. Earrings and necklaces keep citrine near your face, where you'll catch its color in every mirror. Our handmade citrine dreamcatcher necklace and the 18k gold plated citrine dreamcatcher earrings pair it with the dreamcatcher, a traditional symbol of good dreams and protection. For everyday wear, the citrine crystal chip bracelet strings small polished chips into an easy stack piece.
Carry it. A raw citrine keychain goes wherever your keys go, which makes it the simplest way to keep a goal in your hand all day.
Place it. Set a piece on your desk or beside the register if you run a business. In feng shui, the wealth corner of a room is the far left as you stand in the doorway, and citrine is a traditional choice for it. The handmade citrine moon décor hangs in a sunny window and needs no shelf space at all.
Try this on the next new moon. Write one goal on a slip of paper. Hold your citrine, read the goal aloud and name one step you'll take this week. Then fold the paper around the stone, or set the stone on top of it, somewhere you'll see it every morning.
Natural or heated? The color tells you
Here's the clue promised at the top. Natural citrine forms its color slowly in the ground, and it almost always comes out pale: lemon, champagne or soft honey, spread evenly through the stone. Heated citrine starts as amethyst and is baked until the purple turns orange. The result is darker and more dramatic.
| Natural citrine | Heated amethyst sold as citrine | |
|---|---|---|
| Color | Pale lemon to soft honey yellow | Deep orange, burnt amber, reddish brown |
| Where the color sits | Even through the stone | Often strongest at the tips |
| Clusters | Rare | Orange points on a chalky white base |
| Price | Usually higher | Usually lower |
Heated stones are still real quartz, and nothing is wrong with owning one. They're simply a different thing from citrine that grew its color naturally. The citrine in our shop is the natural kind: a soft, pale yellow, never the burnt orange of heated stone.
Types of citrine
- Raw citrine: natural rough pieces and points, pale to golden. These are the pieces in our raw keychains.
- Tumbled and chip citrine: polished stones and small chips for bracelets, pendulums and mixed crystal designs.
- Citrine clusters and geodes: almost always heated amethyst (see the table above).
- Madeira citrine: a trade name for deep reddish-orange faceted gems.
- Lemon quartz: a bright, slightly green-yellow quartz, usually colored by treatment.
- Ametrine: amethyst and citrine growing together in one crystal, purple beside gold, found mainly in Bolivia.
Citrine pairs well with
Green aventurine is the other classic luck stone, and the two together make a goals-and-good-fortune set many people keep on their desk. Tiger's eye brings its own steady courage, a good partner for the days you need to follow through. Clear quartz is said to amplify whatever stone it sits beside, which is the idea behind our quartz and citrine chip pendulum.
Citrine is also the solar plexus stone in our chakra pieces, such as the 7 chakra moon décor.
Caring for citrine
Citrine is quartz, so it's tough: a 7 on the Mohs scale and fine for daily wear, though a hard knock on tile can still chip it. Water won't hurt it. Rinse it, dry it with a soft cloth and skip harsh cleaners. Jewelry with elastic, cord or metal findings shouldn't soak.
Keep it out of heat and long hours of strong sun. Heat is exactly what changes quartz color, and a year on a hot windowsill can fade even natural citrine.
Citrine has a reputation as the one stone that never needs cleansing, since it's said not to hold on to heavy energy. Many people cleanse it anyway, alongside the rest of their collection, with moonlight, a selenite plate or a little sage smoke. Every crystal in our shop is smudged with sage and charged in the moonlight before it ships.
Citrine FAQ
Which wrist do you wear a citrine bracelet on?
The right wrist, the giving side, is the usual choice for citrine, to send your confidence out into the world.
How can you tell if citrine is real?
Look at the color. Natural citrine is pale yellow and even. Deep orange stones, especially clusters on a white base, are almost always heated amethyst.
Can citrine get wet?
Yes. It's quartz, so water won't harm it. Just dry it well, and keep jewelry with cords or metal parts out of long soaks.
Can citrine go in the sun?
For a short while, yes. Long, repeated hours of strong sun can slowly fade it.
Is citrine the same as topaz?
No. Citrine is a yellow quartz and topaz is a different, harder mineral. They were mixed up for centuries and still share November as a birthstone.
Is citrine expensive?
Heated citrine is inexpensive because amethyst is plentiful. Natural citrine with good color is rarer and usually costs more.
Why natural citrine is so rare
Citrine is quartz, the same silicon dioxide as amethyst and clear quartz, with traces of iron giving it its color. What decides the shade is heat. Amethyst gets its purple from iron and natural radiation. Heat it to around 450 to 550 °C, in a kiln or deep in the earth, and the purple turns yellow, orange or reddish brown for good.
In nature, that change happens only in a few places, and gently, which is why natural citrine is pale and scarce. Brazil, Madagascar, Zambia and the Congo produce some, and Bolivia's ametrine shows the halfway point, purple and gold in a single crystal. Almost everything else on the market went through a kiln. It's a long-standing practice in the gem trade, and it's why a pale, natural yellow is worth knowing when you see it.
Each piece we sell is one of a kind, and the one pictured is the one you'll receive.