How do I tell if an amethyst or citrine is synthetic?

There is a lot of synthetic quartz in the market. We have to take special care to ensure that all the quartz we sell is natural. Gemologists can usually identify the presence of seed crystals in synthetic quartz. The best way for consumers to identify synthetic quartz is by size, color and clarity. You will often see synthetic amethyst or citrine in extraordinarily large sizes with perfect clarity. Natural amethyst or citrine will typically exhibit color zoning that you won't find in the synthetic material. The synthetic ametrine is often found in colors that you won't see in nature; either the color is extraordinarily vivid, or you will find hues such as blue and green which do not occur naturally. Please see our article on Hydrothermal Quartz for some photos and more information.

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