Olive Green
Fine Green Gemstones: Chrome Diopside
Looking for a fine green gemstone with rich color and excellent clarity? What are your choices? The traditional choice is emerald, though emerald is more famous for its color than its clarity. Tsavorite garnet came on to the market in the 1970′s and, with the help of Tiffany & Co., became the second choice in fine green gems. High quality tsavorite not only had an excellent saturated green color, it had superior brilliance, clarity and hardness. The only problem is that tsavorite became so popular that the prices went as high or higher than emerald.
The next choice was a rare variety of green tourmaline known as chrome tourmaline. Like tsavorite garnet, chrome tourmaline is found in East Africa, and colored by trace amounts of chromium and vanadium. And like tsavorite, fine chrome tourmaline is a visually pure forest green with a slightly yellowish to bluish secondary hue. But chrome tourmaline turned out to be just as scarce and expensive as tsavorite garnet.
The only green gems left were peridot and ordinary green tourmaline. Peridot tended to the yellowish or olive green, and never had the deeper tones of tsavorite or chrome tourmaline. Ordinary green tourmaline rarely had the wonderful saturation of the chrome version.
This situation began to change in 1988 when a major new find of a chromium-bearing type of diopside was discovered in Russia. Known as chrome diopside, the material didn’t really begin to reach the market until after the Berlin Wall fell at the end of 1989. But here finally was a rich green gem at an affordable price — under $100 a carat in smaller sizes.
The important diopside find in Russia is in eastern Siberia, close to the famous diamond mines. This diopside is colored by chromium, the same element that gives the color to ruby, emerald and alexandrite. The color was spectacular; chrome diopside literally glows with green. However, there are a few limitations to this gem. First, chrome diopside can actually suffer from too much green — in larger sizes the tone can be very dark. Careful cutting is required in the larger sizes to keep the angles slightly shallow to improve brilliance. But in smaller sizes (under 2 carats) the color is exceptionally vivid and fresh.
The other limitation is that diopside is much softer than tsavorite garnet or tourmaline. At 5 to 6 on the Mohs scale, chrome diopside is not suitable for rings. But it is well suited for earrings and pendants and looks stunning when set in gold. Diopside jewelry should be stored carefully to avoid scratches from harder stones.
About the Author
GemSelect is one of the leading online dealers in fine gemstones, including sapphire, emerald, tsavorite garnet, peridot, tourmaline and chrome diopside. Buy Fine Yellow Sapphire.
Subtle Smokey Olive Green Eyes (suits monolids as well)
|
|
Ozeri Green Earth Smooth Ceramic Nonstick Frying Pan, 100-Percent PTFE and PFOA Free Utilizing natural ceramic as a coating, the Green Earth Pan by Ozeri is one of the world’s first frying pans to achieve non-stick perfection while remaining absolutely free of PTFE, PFOA and other harmful chemicals. Conventional non-stick cookware is achieved through a coating of PTFE (PolyTetraFluoroEthylene), a synthetic substance that has waxy properties. At very high temperatures, PTFE begins … |
|
|
Takeya Airtight Jug with Silicone Handle $22.00 40oz Drink Pitcher White/Rasp… |
|
|
EasyLunchboxes Insulated Lunch Box Cooler Bag, Olive $7.95 Use with EasyLunchboxes compartmentalized food containers for an affordable and green lunch box solution. These coolers are specially designed to carry our best selling bento containers upright, so food stays put. Say goodbye to the scrambled meals you get using other, sideways carriers. With these, at lunchtime your creations will look as yummy as when you packed them! You’ll have plenty of room… |
|
|
iPhone 4S Sparkling Glitter Vinyl Antenna Wrap for AT&T , Sprint, and Verizon – Sparkling Silver $9.99 Here at Kellokult, we love our iPhones, and the best thing about them is how every one is unique: everybody has a different combination of apps that change all the time. We thought, why cant we have the outside be just as unique and flexible? Designed for users who want their iPhone to stand out without weighing it down, Kellokult antenna wraps are the perfect highlight to the famous iPhone profil… |
|
|
AT&T iPhone 4 Sparkling Glitter Vinyl Antenna Wrap, Sparkling Silver $9.99 Here at Kellokult, we love our iPhones, and the best thing about them is how every one is unique: everybody has a different combination of apps that change all the time. We thought, why cant we have the outside be just as unique and flexible? Designed for users who want their iPhone to stand out without weighing it down, Kellokult antenna wraps are the perfect highlight to the famous iPhone profil… |
|
|
iPhone 4S Sparkling Glitter Vinyl Antenna Wrap for AT&T , Sprint, and Verizon – Sparkling Turquoise $9.99 Here at Kellokult, we love our iPhones, and the best thing about them is how every one is unique: everybody has a different combination of apps that change all the time. We thought, why cant we have the outside be just as unique and flexible? Designed for users who want their iPhone to stand out without weighing it down, Kellokult antenna wraps are the perfect highlight to the famous iPhone profil… |
|
|
Gangway [VHS] … |
|
|
Gangway 19 [VHS] $14.95 … |
|
|
Beyond the Gates of Splendor $5.99 While the primary lesson of Beyond the Gates of Splendor is about the power of Christian love, this extraordinary documentary transcends its missionary message with a universal tale of cultural exchange, murder, and the ultimate act of forgiveness. After establishing that the Waodani Indians in the Amazon basin of Ecuador had endured several generations of violent homicide among tribal neighbors,… |
|
|
The Hellstrom Chronicle $15.03 Might bugs take over the planet? Long before “Catfish” called into question the dividing line between fact and fakery, this Academy Award-winner for Best Documentary sounds the alarm about the tiny critters that could become our insect overlords through the fictitious person of Professor Nils Hellstrom (Lawrence Pressman). The film boasts wild microphotography dramatizing the savage world of the p… |
Tags: food, green, oil, olive, olive green, olive green bridesmaid dresses, olive green dog, olive green dresses, olive green prom dresses, shopping
This entry was posted on Friday, March 19th, 1976 at 1:05 am and is filed under Clothing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.