Madeira Citrine

[Sasori]

Hi People,
would anyone ahve any write-out or information on the above?
I''ve seen the term cropping up occasionally,but what is it?
Is it natural or they are just a misleading name like water sapphire etc?
Or they are something like Paraiba tourmaline, having something unique(eg copper in Paraiba) which makes them a class of their own?
Thus whats the different from normal citrine?

Thank you in advance

Cheers!
Ryan

 

[Richard M.]

Hi,

Madeira is a color designation for reddish-brown citrine. The name is derived from the color of Portuguese Madeira wine. Nearly all gem citrine starts as either amethyst or smoky quartz which is heated to varying degrees to achieve the color desired. Some natural citrines exist but aren''t important as jewelry stones.

While the madeira color was very popular some years ago, the brighter yellow to strongly yellow-orange to orange citrine colors seem to be more favored in the current market. Many now reject madeira because of its dullish overheated color and the brownish overtone.

Richard M.

 

[Sasori]

Thanks Richard.

So there there are no such thing as unheated madeira, and even if have, it will not be abundantly avail right?

 

[Richard M.]

Date: 3/17/2005 10:54:48 PM
Author: Sasori



So there there are no such thing as unheated madeira, and even if have, it will not be abundantly avail right?

I would not go so far as to say there''s no unheated Madeira but natural citrine is quite rare and is usually pale yellow. Natural Madeira citrine would not be abundant unless there''s some brand new unpublicized source.

 

[Richard M.]

Sasori,

After I posted my last comment I did some additional checking. Some dealers are carrying Madeira citrine said to be natural from a new source in Madagascar. I''m not familiar with the quality of the stone nor how much might be available.

Richard M.

 

[Sasori]

Interesting.. Seems like lotsa minerals are being mined at Madagascar now. Rubies, Sapphire, etc.

I was curious because I''ve seen in e-bay quite a number of huge "unheated" madeira citrine being sold, these stones are not really cheap compared to normal citrine. But looks wonderful in color of an orangeish red.

eg: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=10207&item=4976350872&rd=1

Yet I wont want to spend monies on a wrongly represented stone.

 

[valeria101]

Date: 3/21/2005 12:19:13 AM
Author: Sasori

I was curious because I've seen in e-bay quite a number of huge 'unheated' madeira citrine being sold,

Both synthetic citrine and amethyst are available in every shade and darn hard to tell from the real deal - except for the "too good to be true" alarm bell. This is really large and amazingly clean and even-colored

Both "unheated" and "Madeira" are two catch words both hard to substantiate. If you search Ebay enough, you will find enough garnet and spinel called "unheated" - these catch-words fly around like crazy

Great research material - but some shopping nightmare

Well, as far as I know, of course.

 

[fatafelice]

Interesting...

My avatar is a citrine and sapphire ring that I am still kicking myself for not bidding higher on (years ago in an ebay auction). Big and Bright is not neccesarily my MO, but there is just something about this ring that I love. I plan on having one like it made one day, but I didn''t realize that the center stone was likely treated. That makes me feel a little better about not paying what the seller was asking for it!

 

[Sasori]

Reproduce it using yellow sapphire as the centre stone, way cool!

 

[fatafelice]

Sasori,
I just found this on madeira citrine on www.gemhut.com:
Hardness
7.0.
Occurrence
Worldwide.
Appearance
Bright pumpkin orange to dark orangish red in color. Dark red specimens can be confused with pyrope garnet.
Enhancements
Madeira citrine is not known to be enhanced.

I don''t know if this is a reliable source and I may be even more confused than before, but it seems that while yellow colors of quartz (usually treated) are called "citrine," that this "madeira" is citrine.

 

[fatafelice]

Here is a link to some very nice looking madeira citrine stones. The seller/website says the color is natural and the stones have had no enhancement. The prices look pretty reasonable. Too good to be true?

http://www.gggems.com/madeira_citrine_miscellaneous.htm