Diopside offers a color range, which usually consists of bottle green, brownish green or light green. Diopside crystals can also be colorless at times. When the diopside gets richer in iron and poorer in magnesium they go darker in color, almost to black. The extremely bright green diopside is colored by chromium and is known as chrome diopside. Chrome diopside is among the least expensive green gemstones.

The other rare color of violet blue, which is colored by manganese, is found in Italy and USA. This type of diopside can be called as violane.

Locations:

Gem quality chrome diopside is found in Burma, Pakistan, South Africa and Siberia (Russia). Other places where the diopside is found are Brazil, Madagascar, Austria, Canada and Sri Lanka. Dark green to black diopside, which has a four-rayed star, has been found in the southern India since 1964.

Chemical Composition: Calcium Magnesium Silicate
Crystal Structure: Monoclinic
Hardness: 5.5
Specific Gravity: 3.29
Refractive Index: 1.66-1.72
Colors: Bottle green, brown green, light green, violet blue and dark green to black.
Luster: Vitreous

Astrological Relevance:

Diopside is considered to be one of the birthstones for the month of March, which covers two zodiac signs: Pisces (February 21 To March 21) and Aries (March 21 To April 20).