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| <<Back to Main | ApatiteApatite | Aquamarine and BerylsAquamarine and Beryls | ChrysoberylChrysoberyl | Crystal CollectionsCrystal Collections | DanburiteDanburite | DiopsideDiopside | EnstatiteEnstatite | Feldspar and MoonstonesFeldspar and Moonstones | FluoriteFluorite | GarnetGarnet | Gemstones in matrixGemstones in matrix | Lapis LazuliLapis Lazuli | PegmatitePegmatite | PeridotPeridot | PetalitePetalite | PhenakitePhenakite | Pyrite, Hematite and Iron OresPyrite, Hematite and Iron Ores | Quartz Family: Amethyst, Citrine, Agate...Quartz Family: Amethyst, Citrine, Agate... | Rare Burmese SpecimensRare Burmese Specimens | RubyRuby | SapphireSapphire | ScapoliteScapolite | Sillimanite or FibroliteSillimanite or Fibrolite | SpinelSpinel | TopazTopaz | TourmalineTourmaline | ZirconZircon | Other Fine CrystalsOther Fine Crystals | | Our Top Diopside Highlight | Diopside | | The etymological origin of "diopside" comes from the ancient Greek "di", which means "two", and "opsis", meaning "vision". With a hardness of 5.5 on Mohs' scale, diopside is a quite brittle gemstone and for this reason is not commonly used in jewelry but in spite of that is, and for a long time, a nice and interesting piece loved by gem and mineral collectors. Diopside is usually bottle-green, but some colorless, brownish, black, violet-green varieties can be seen.
Most of time transparent, the stone can be fibrous and makes it translucent to opaque. These fibrous inclusions can give "cat's eye" effect in green stones and "asterism" with a "4 arms star" in black stones. But star stones are not common. Because it is a biaxial stone, diopside can present a more or less important pleochroism, generally showing different tones of green. Diopside can be mistaken with peridot and hiddenite.
The crystal shape is usually columnar, but from the Mogok Valley you will find in our pages some "chrome diopside" crystals, which are a light emerald green variety of diopside, showing unusual character like tabular crystal shape. The diopside is a calcium magnesium silicate: CaMg(SiO3)2. It means that it's a (clino) pyroxene crystallizing in the monoclinic system and presents a perfect prismatic cleavage. Diopside generally forms in magmatic rocks, but can also be found in metamorphic rocks.
Color is due to chrome (livelier green) or iron (green, brown to black). In addition to Mogok Valley, chrome diopside is also mined in Kimberley diamond mine in South Africa.
Other varieties are found in Italy, Austria (Tyrol), Sri Lanka, Brazil (Minas Gerais), Canada and United States (California). The color of stones will vary with locality. (A.Z)
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