Zultanite's 6.5–7 Mohs hardness puts it in the "scratchable by quartz dust" range, suitable for occasional-wear jewelry but not daily-wear rings. More importantly, the perfect cleavage on the {010} plane gives diaspore poor toughness — a sharp impact along the cleavage direction can cleave the stone cleanly. Pendants, earrings, and brooches are the safest mountings; rings should be bezel-set with substantial protective metal.

The verified facts

This entry is part of the Zultpedia editorial archive on color-change diaspore from the İlbir Mountains of southwestern Türkiye. Mineral species: diaspore (α-AlO(OH)). Hardness: 6.5–7 Mohs. Refractive index: 1.682–1.752. Specific gravity: 3.30–3.39. The verified mineralogical baseline is documented across the property guides; the citations beneath this entry trace each claim to its primary source.

Editorial framing

Zultpedia treats color-change diaspore as a single-source mineral species first and a trade-name commodity second. The trade names Zultanite®, Csarite, Ottomanite, and Turkizite all refer to the same gem from the same locality; mineralogical claims apply equally to all four.

Cross-references

See also the related entries listed beneath this article and the property guides for verified physical and optical values.