Afganistan Diaspore

I read this gia article about the Afganistan Diaspore and seems there are not much info about this gemstone

https://www.gia.edu/gems-gemology/summer-2020-gemnews-purplish-pink-diaspore-reportedly-from-afghanistan

anyone have seen one in person, how does it look compare to the diaspore from Turkey

Hi Razman - this is one topic Iā€™ve done a lot of research on!!

Okay, so, Turkish Diaspore is very special. It has a higher quality of pleochroism as opposed to other countriesā€™ diaspore stones. It can display up to three colours at once whilst others may display two tops, and not necessarily at the same time. Turkish Diaspore is trademarked as both Zultanite and Csarite, and these are more expensive than other diaspore as they are a high quality, are mined 100% ethically (the workers get health insurance and high pay - something a lot of miners have to go without) with state-of-the-art equipment up in the mountains at a 3000ft elevation, and they have been seriously marketed as ā€˜the bestā€™. Diaspore from countries other than Turkey are less expensive and of a lower quality (in terms of colour changing/pleochroism), and may not be mined ethically. ONLY buy Turkish diaspore if it has an official Csarite or Zultanite authenticity certificate - you can see the stores which stock Zultanite on the official zultanite website. Another thing that affects colour is cut - the cut determines how much pleochroism is observable. A brilliant cut or Ascher is more likely to show it than a baguette or square cut. The more facets on the stone, the better in terms of colour and worth (csarite is notoriously difficult to cut (to quote GemScene: ā€œ50 percent of the rough crystals are suitable for faceting and, of those, 98 percent is lost during cutting, giving a 2 percent yieldā€. Thy are, apparently, 10,000 times rarer than a diamond. The size also dictates colour change quality and value - the bigger the better it is. Most Zultanite stones are under 2cts (Also if youā€™re wondering why there are two Turkish Diaspore names, thatā€™s because the mine was sold and the stone renamed).

Basically, Turkish diaspore is superior but it has to be at least 1ct to be noticeable. I also think itā€™s worth paying more to use the name Zultanite/csarite rather than diaspore. Sounds like a type of Fungi.

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Superb explanation! Hit all the nails on the head and I learned a lot. Many thanks for this! :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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thanks Bella

I noticed Afghanistan Diaspore are mostly not color change but is kind of like color shift.

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