Characteristics of Diaspore:

Chemical Name: Hydrous aluminum oxide

Formula: AIO(OH)

Colors: White, yellow, lilac, pink

Structure: Orthorhombic

Hardness: 6.5-7

Specific Gravity: 3.3-3.4

Refractive Index: 1.70-1.75

Lustre: Vitreous

Streak: White

Locations: Turkey, Russia, USA

What is Diaspore? 

While its scientific name comes from the Greek word diaspora, meaning “scattering”, and refers to the way diaspore crackles under high heat, this gem was marketed under the trade name Zultanite, which is more suggestive of its pleochroic (color-changing) beauty (the name was later replaced by Czarite). Diaspore displays light green tints in sunlight and raspberry purplish pinks in candlelight, and it gleams a champagne color under indoor lighting. In mixed lighting, variations on all of these colors can occur.

Diaspore was first described in 1801 after it was found in the Ural mountains of Russia.