How can you identify natural citrine?

Natural citrine is usually spotted by its pale, even yellow to brownish-yellow look and the fact that it can show subtle dichroism. Heat-treated amethyst, which is the most common imitation, doesn’t show that feature entirely.

Most of the citrine sold out there is actually heated amethyst. It often turns up with a strong, opaque orange or reddish-brown appearance, and it commonly shows that “tiger stripe” zoning. Real natural citrine is rather scarce, and it tends to have a gentler, more uniform lemon-yellow tone without noticeable colour banding.