The Birth Stone for November is Citrine

Citrine is the most affordable of all the earth-toned gemstones, thanks to its durability and availability. It has become increasingly popular with budget-minded women looking to expand their work and leisure jewelry wardrobes.

Citrine, a form of quartz, derives its name from the French word for lemon, "citron." It is available in a range of golden hues from lemon to straw to sun yellow to gold, as well as oranges, browns, and deep madeira red. It is generally more inexpensive than amethyst and is also available in a wide range of calibrated sizes and shapes, including very large sizes.

Citrine's lively colors can brighten almost any jewelry style, and it blends especially well with yellow gold. Its low cost makes it an ideal stone for popular free-form fancy cuts for one-of-a-kind and customized pieces. And good cut is as important in determining citrine's quality as it is for more expensive yellow counterparts, such as yellow sapphire.

As with other stones, citrine in very large sizes (above three carats) in rich, deep colors has always been rare and therefore the most valuable form of the gem. Although this stone's dark orange and red shades traditionally have been the most prized, its bright lemony hues have become very popular in recent years because they mix better with pastel colors.