Violane

Violane is a manganese-rich, coarse variety of diopside used for cabochons or carved for decorative purposes. The material is translucent to opaque and is sometimes confused with marble due to its granular texture. In the best stones the color ranges from light blue to deep violet with strong color saturation. The material can be mottled combinations of blue, purple or violet with gray and white. The main source is the Praborna mine located in Saint-Marcel, in the Aosta Valley, Italy. Other localities include southern Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada, Greece, the Republic of Khakassia in the eastern part of Siberia, and California in the United States. A light blue massive variety of violane that is used for spheres and decorative items comes from the Ural Mountains in Russia. At the May 2007 Verona Mineral Show quartz cabochons with violan inclusions were introduced. They were reported to have come from the Aosta Valley in Italy.