Far rarer than its famous Siberian sister gem, Madagascan Green Diopside displays all-natural, beautiful verdant rainforests with an exceptional brilliance, clarity and transparency, atypical for the locale. The raw crystals were acquired by chance in 1992 by highly-respected American lapidary, Mark Kaufman, during a rough buying visit to Antsirabe, Madagascar. Long vaulted, we persuaded Mark to part with the remaining 47 crystals. Madagascan Green Diopside’s scant deposits scattered throughout the island rarely yield fine, facet-grade gemstones, making this limited jewelry collection extremely special.
Hardness 5.5 – 6.5
Refractive Index 1.664 – 1.730
Relative Density 3.22 – 3.38
Enhancement None
Beauty
Madagascan Green Diopside features bright rainforest greens (gray-bluish-greens) with a highly-desirable medium to medium-light saturation (strength of color) and tone (lightness or darkness of color), the marketplace ideal. As Diopside from Madagascar is usually dark, attractive and bright gems with good brilliance and transparency are most desirable.
Madagascan Green Diopside is doubly refractive, splitting light into two rays as it passes through the gem. Extremely attractive, this is visible as a doubling of the facets, resulting in beautiful sparkling mosaic patterns and optical depth. While it’s also diochroic (two-colored), this weak pleochroism is a nonissue in well-cut gemstones, correctly orientated for their best color. Poor lapidary can darken Green Diopside, making it unattractive.
Diopsides’ perfect cleavage (smooth, lustrous surfaces produced with great ease) in two directions makes faceting challenging, keeping cutting slow and laborious. Optimally faceted in the legendary gemstone country of Thailand (Siam), home to some of the world’s best lapidaries, these rare crystals were carefully orientated to maximize colorful brilliance, maintaining an eye-clean clarity (the highest quality clarity grade for colored gemstones as determined by the world’s leading gemological laboratories), a high/mirror-like polish (accentuating its vitreous ‘glassy’ luster), and an attractive overall appearance (outline, profile, proportions, and shape).
Green Diopside is usually faceted with brilliant or step cuts in a variety of shapes. Rounds are most common; other shapes sometimes incur a premium. After assessing color and clarity, look for a good shape and overall appearance when making your final selection.
Named in 1800, Diopside derives its name from the Greek ‘di’ (two or double) and ‘opsis’ (appearance or view) in reference to its double refractivity/pleochroism (two or more colors seen from different angles). A calcium manganese silicate, Diopside’s typical greens are either caused by chromium (Russia) or iron (Madagascar). Diopside also comes in blue, brown, colorless, gray, purple, and white. Chromium-rich Green (Chrome) Diopside is predominately mined in Russia (Eastern Siberian Region), with secondary deposits in Burma (Myanmar), China and South Africa. Hailing from the Tien Shan (Celestial Mountains) range in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of Western China, Tashmarine® is the brand name for the light green Chrome Diopside launched by the Columbia Gem House in 2001. It has a less saturated color than Russian (Chrome) Diopside due to lower amounts of chromium. Four-rayed Star Diopside from India is also known as Black Star Diopside, due to its black or blackish-green color. While Star Diopside has two rays that are straight, the other two are not right angled to the first pair. Also typically mined in India, Cat’s Eye Diopside is green with inclusions of rutile needles. Colored by large amounts of manganese, Violan (also Violane) is a rare bluish/violet Diopside variety hailing from Saint Marcel in Italy’s Aosta Valley. Now firmly a jewelry gemstone, Diopside was once the domain of collectors and enthusiasts who prized its valuable mineral specimens. While Diopside is known as the ‘crying gemstone’ (ostensibly because of a purported ability to heal trauma by bringing forth cleansing tears), there is little historical information regarding this gemstone.
Rarity
Extremely rare, gemmy Diopside is occasionally found in small quantities in Brazil, Burma (Myanmar), Canada, China, Finland, India, Italy, Kenya, Madagascar, Pakistan, Russia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and the USA.
While Madagascan Green Diopside was first reported around 1922, ours are from the Vohitany Corundum Deposits, located near the coastal city of Toliara (Tuléar) in Madagascar’s Atsimo-Andrefana province. Here Diopside and Corundum (Ruby) are found in pyroxenite, a dark-colored, igneous rock, rich in magnesium and iron. Worked since the 60s, it’s believed the area is no longer being mined.
Madagascan Diopside can reach up to about 20 carats, with one in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History weighing 19.20 carats. With sizes from 5mm to 10x8mm, our calibrated cut yield was 19 percent, just under the usual 20 – 35 percent gem mineral return. Madagascan Green Diopside is also one of the few gemstones that are totally natural and unenhanced, accentuating desirability, rarity, and value.
Durability & Care
An everyday wearable, exotic jewelry gemstone, Madagascan Green Diopside (Mohs’ Hardness: 5.5 – 6.5) should always be carefully stored to avoid scuffs and scratches. Clean with gentle soap and lukewarm water, scrubbing behind the gem with a very soft toothbrush as necessary. After cleaning, pat dry with a soft towel or chamois cloth.
Map Location
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