Citrine is a member of the large quartz family, whose color ranges from a pale yellow to brown. Natural citrines are very rare because most of them are now heat-treated natural amethysts or smoky quartzes. It is nearly impossible to tell cut citrine from yellow topaz visibly, but they differ in hardness. The citrine has a hardness of 7 on the Mohs scale and is thus, to a large extent, insensitive to scratches. Indeed, it will not take much offence at being knocked about either, since its cleavage properties are non-existent. Brazil is the leading producer of citrine, with much of its production coming from the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Not many gemstones are yellow and citrine offers gemstone lovers almost everything they can expect in terms of adornment and decoration. Citrine jewelry shimmers and brings a hint of sunshine to those dull November days.

The name is derived from Latin citrina which means "yellow" and is also the origin of the word "citron" which means lemon in French. Sometimes citrine and amethyst can be found together in the same crystal and is called Ametrine, where one half of the gem is purple and the other yellow. Citrine is one of three traditional birthstones for the month of November.