Diopside colors
Buying Diopside
Where is Diopside found?
Common Diopside treatments
World-famous Diopside
Diopside gemology
Diopside legends & lore

Diopside colors
A beautiful deep green is the most often seen faceted version of this gemstone. Chrome diopside, a diopside variety, impresses with a saturated emerald green. Another variety is called violane, a rough, violet-blue diopside. Diopside also comes rarely as a classic four-rayed black diopside star that is very much like a black star sapphire, except that the star sapphire carries six rays.

Buying Diopside
Diopside needs special precautions to avoid scratching it with harder substances, since it is a "soft" gem. It's advisable to wrap it before storage in a soft cloth to prevent the stones from rubbing against each other.

Color
With increasing size of the stone the color of the diopside green appears darker and can turn into almost black. The best choice would be a medium sized stone in vivid green color. Chrome diopside has a beautiful rich green color.

Lighting

Clarity
Look for flawless, eye clean gems. There is also a green "cat's eye" variety that contains minute inclusions, probably of rutile that reflect light in such a way as to produce a lively linear luminescence within the crystal. The star diopside variety is quite dark, with included rutile needles aligned so as to produce a four-rayed star.

Cut
Diopside comes in many shapes and forms, like facetted, emerald, oval or cabochon cut.

Diopside location and deposits
Deposits are found in Austria, Finland, India, Madagascar, Myanmar, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the United States. Violane is only found in Piedmont, Italy.

Common Diopside treatments
None

World-famous Diopside
As a lesser-known gemstone, diopside hasn't gained fame as of yet.

Diopside gemology
Species: Diopside
Color: Green, yellow, colorless, brown, black
Chemical composition: CaMgSi2O6, calcium magnesium silicate
Crystal system: Monoclinic; columnar crystals
Hardness: 5-6 (Mohs scale)
Specific gravity: 3.22 - 3.38
Refractive index: 1.664 - 1.730
Birefringence: +0.024 to +0.031
Color of streak: White
Absorption spectrum: 505, 493, 446; Chrome diopside: 690, 670, 655, 635, 508, 505, 490
Fluorescence: Violet, orange, yellow, green

The Diopside zodiac, myth & legend
In ancient times, some people believed green diopside had fallen from the tree of life and therefore the dead should be buried with a diopside to ensure renewal of life. In some cultures green diopside was associated with peace and tranquility and put on the forehead before rest, in order to ensure sweet dreams.