Hardness: 5.50
Refractive Index: 1.66-1.72
Specific Gravity: 3.29
Birthstone:
Astral Stone:
Anniversary Stone:
Origination: Myanmar, the former Russia, India, Brazil, Africa & the United States.
Care & Cleaning: With a hardness of just 5.5, diopside can be easily scratched or chipped. For this reason, it is not well-suited for bracelets. To clean diopside, use a plain water rinse or a soft polishing cloth.
Fiction, Facts & Folklore:
Iron, and manganese are two of the coloring agents of diopside. As the iron content increases, the stone becomes darker.
Diopside is a distant relative of kunzite and hiddenite.
A variety of diopside that displays an asterism, (or star) first surfaced in India in the mid 1960�s.
Chromium causes the diopside to turn a bright emerald green color. This particular form of diopside is known as �chrome diopside.�
A lovely violet-blue form of diopside, seen mostly in bead form at retail, is found in New York State.
A new variety of diopside has surfaced in the state of Tamil Nadu on the southern tip of India. It most closely resembles the green tourmaline, and often displays an asterism. These gems were find in association with an emerald deposit.
Green diopside was considered by ancients to have fallen from the tree of life. For this reason, they believed that the deceased should be buried with a diopside to guarantee the renewal of life.
In earlier times, diopside was placed on the forehead prior to resting. This was done in order to assure sweet dreams while sleeping.