November Birthstone: Topaz and Citrine

By Lisa Chen, Founder · July 16, 2026

Short answer: November has two birthstones — topaz and citrine. What almost nobody tells you is that the versions of both you are most likely to be sold started out looking like something else. Nearly all blue topaz began as colorless topaz that was irradiated and heated; most citrine began as amethyst heated until it turned yellow. Neither fact makes them bad stones — you should just hear it from a seller before you buy.

Why November has two birthstones

Birthstone lists are commerce and custom, not geology. Cultures have assigned stones to months for centuries and the lists disagree, because no single authority ever handed one down. The list most American jewelers use was standardized in 1912 by the national jewelers’ trade association — the organization known today as Jewelers of America.

Topaz was November’s original stone. Citrine was added to the official U.S. list in 1952 — and I will be careful here, because trade sources credit that update to different organizations and I could not verify which one enacted it, so I will not guess. The year and the outcome are well established: if you were born in November, both stones are yours.

Blue topaz is almost never naturally blue

Topaz in its natural state is commonly colorless. Its color comes from impurities or defects in the crystal structure rather than its core chemistry — so a colorless crystal is a blank slate that responds to treatment.

Take that colorless topaz, irradiate it, then heat it, and you get blue. The GIA puts it plainly: the vast majority of blue topaz seen today is the permanent result of treating colorless topaz with irradiation and heating. Not some — the vast majority. If you own it, this is overwhelmingly likely what happened to it, whether it was sold as “sky blue,” “Swiss blue,” or “London blue.”

Two honest notes. The color is permanent — not a coating that rubs off. And treatment is not fraud: it is standard practice, and it is why a large, clean blue stone is affordable at all. What would be dishonest is a seller implying the blue is natural, or going quiet when you ask.

One treatment is worth separating out: “mystic topaz,” the oil-slick rainbow stone, is colorless topaz coated with a thin artificial film — a surface layer, not a change to the stone. The coating withstands normal wear, but abrasives will remove it.

Imperial and precious topaz: the rare natural ones

If natural color is what you want, this is where it lives. Imperial topaz is a medium reddish orange to orange-red — the GIA calls it one of the gem’s most expensive colors, and commercial deposits are so far found in a single area of the world: Ouro Prêto, Brazil. Yellowish-brown to orange stones are called sherry topaz, and the trade calls this range precious topaz specifically to distinguish it from cheaper, similar-looking citrine and smoky quartz.

Natural pink, red, and violet-to-purple topaz get their color from chromium, and red is very rare. The shorthand: the topaz that is cheap and everywhere is blue and treated; the topaz that is scarce is orange, pink, or red and natural. Both are real topaz — the price gap is rarity, not marketing.

Most “citrine” started life as amethyst

Citrine is the transparent yellow to brownish-orange variety of quartz, and the GIA is blunt: citrine is rare in nature. Because it is rare, most citrine on the market is the result of heat treatment, which turns amethyst from an unattractive pale violet into an attractive yellow. The amethyst heated to citrine color is mined mostly in Brazil — which means February’s birthstone and most of November’s are the same mineral, cooked.

Natural, unheated citrine does exist. Bolivia’s Anahí mine is an important source, and it yields a lovely side effect: crystals holding both purple amethyst and yellow citrine, sold when cut together as ametrine. If natural origin matters to you, ask for unheated citrine by name and expect to pay for it.

Hardness is not toughness — why topaz chips at Mohs 8

The Mohs scale measures one thing: resistance to scratching. Per the USGS, quartz is 7 and topaz is 8 — so topaz outranks citrine, and you would reasonably conclude it is the tougher stone.

It is not that simple. Toughness — resistance to breaking, chipping, and cracking — is a different property, arising from internal structure, not scratch resistance. Topaz has perfect basal cleavage: a plane along which it splits cleanly. The GIA rates its toughness poor precisely because of it — a hard blow might split it, and extreme pressure or sharp temperature changes might break it. Citrine, being quartz, has no cleavage plane and is rated good toughness.

	Topaz	Citrine
Mineral	Topaz	Quartz variety
Mohs hardness	8	7
Cleavage	Perfect, basal	None
Toughness rating (GIA)	Poor	Good
Usual treatment	Irradiation + heat (blue); coating (mystic)	Heat-treated amethyst
Ultrasonic / steam	Avoid both	Ultrasonic usually fine; avoid steam

• Topaz wins on paper and loses on impact. It resists scratching better than citrine, and it will chip on a doorframe citrine would shrug off.
• Setting style matters. The GIA notes jewelers prefer protective mountings for valuable topaz, or use it in pieces not exposed to much wear, like pendants and pins. Cutters even orient faceted topaz so the cleavage sits about 15 degrees off the table.
• Citrine has its own limit. Sand and dust are largely quartz — same mineral, same hardness — so grit can dull it over years of hard wear.

The practical rule: for a ring you never take off, citrine is more forgiving. If you want topaz, put it somewhere it will not get hit — a pendant or earrings — or accept a protective setting.

Since this is my company’s journal, the same standard applies to us. A pendant is the setting that protects a cleavage-prone stone — so our necklaces are worth a look if that is your direction. Every product page states its own materials, including where the gold is 18k plating over a stainless steel base rather than solid gold.

What the traditions say — and what they do not

Both stones carry a folklore that is genuinely interesting as history. The GIA records that the ancient Greeks believed topaz gave them strength; that from the 1300s to the 1600s Europeans thought it could thwart magic spells and dispel anger; and that for centuries many people in India have believed topaz worn above the heart assures long life, beauty, and intelligence. Because citrine was so often mistaken for topaz, people came to believe it shared those powers — that it could soothe tempers and calm the wearer.

Be precise about what that paragraph is: beliefs people have held, reported as cultural history. They are not findings. I am not going to tell you a stone will bring you fortune, protect your health, or change your luck — there is no evidence for any of it, and a jewelry brand saying otherwise is selling, not informing. Wear a birthstone because it is beautiful, because it marks your month, or because someone you love gave it to you.

Caring for topaz and citrine

• Warm, soapy water for both — what the GIA recommends for each.
• No steam and no ultrasonic for topaz — both are ruled out; high heat or sudden temperature changes can cause internal breaks.
• Citrine tolerates ultrasonic but not steam — high heat could crack it, and abrupt temperature changes can fracture it.
• Keep both out of prolonged strong light and heat. Topaz color is generally stable to light, but long heat or sun exposure might fade some yellow-to-brown stones; some citrine fades under prolonged intense light.
• Chemicals. Topaz is affected only slightly; citrine can be damaged by hydrofluoric acid, ammonium fluoride, and alkaline solutions.

Frequently asked questions

What is November’s birthstone?

November has two: topaz and citrine. Topaz is the older, on the U.S. list standardized in 1912 by the trade association now known as Jewelers of America; citrine was added to that official list in 1952. Both are equally legitimate.

Is blue topaz natural?

Almost never. Per the GIA, the vast majority of blue topaz seen today is the permanent result of treating colorless topaz with irradiation and heating. Natural blue topaz exists but is uncommon and typically pale. The practice is standard and the color permanent, but it should always be disclosed — if a seller will not say whether a stone is treated, that is your answer about the seller.

Is most citrine really heat-treated amethyst?

Yes. The GIA states that citrine is rare in nature and that most citrine on the market results from heat treatment, which turns pale violet amethyst yellow. Natural unheated citrine exists — Bolivia’s Anahí mine is a notable source — but you have to ask for it specifically and pay for it.

Topaz is Mohs 8, so why does it still chip?

Because hardness and toughness are different properties. Mohs hardness measures only resistance to scratching, where topaz rates 8. Toughness measures resistance to breaking and chipping, and topaz has perfect basal cleavage — a plane it splits along — which is why the GIA rates its toughness as poor. A hard knock can chip a stone a knife could not scratch.

Can I wear topaz or citrine every day?

Citrine is the easier daily stone: Mohs 7 with good toughness, which the GIA describes as usually durable enough for normal wear, including rings, provided you accept its limited hardness. Topaz works daily too, but its cleavage means it is happier in a pendant or earrings than in a ring that meets doorframes.

If you take one thing from this: judge a stone by what it is and how it was made, not by what a month chart says it means. If you are shopping for someone born under Scorpio or comparing adjacent months, see our guides on Scorpio birthstones and the December birthstones.

If you want to wear November’s stone rather than read about it, our Personalized Cross & Birthstone Necklace is made in a November version — 18k gold plating over a 316L stainless steel base, built for daily wear. The stones are cubic zirconia, not mined gems, and the product page says so.