The case of the gemstone.
From: "Wondering Wilson"
Are the citrine and the yellow topaz the same stone?
Does the yellow topaz occur in nature, or is it heat altered or
chemically altered to produce that color?
Mark Wienants thoughtfully pondered this:
Strictly speaking, citrine is a
yellow variety of quartz (hexagonal silicon dioxide [SiO2]), and
topaz is a semiprecious gemstone (rhombic prism fluosilicate of
aluminum [Al2SiO4(F,OH)2]). Since they are chemically and
structurally different, no, they are not the same stone. Yellow is
found in nature--impurities in the stone give it its color--and is
generally considered the most precious of the topaz. Citrine,
produced by heating smokey quartz, is also called false topaz.
Mario responded with this:
Yellow Topaz are naturally occurring in nature, much
like yellow diamonds, but in both cases because these stones are
generally rare in natural settings, they can and are in many cases
chemically treated to produce their yellow effect. Citrine is
actually a yellow quartz that is used to imitate yellow topaz.
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