“Snail” in Diamond
This “snail” inclusion was viewed through the upper half facet of a 4.00 ct near-colorless diamond. The purple-red “shell” was identified as pyrope garnet, while the green “body” was determined to be diopside. Photomicrograph by Christopher Vendrell; field of view 1.99 mm.
While different types of inclusions often occur independently within diamond, it is quite rare to find more than one occurring simultaneously, let alone in contact with each other. In the figure above we have a unique example of a purple-red pyrope garnet crystal and green diopside crystal suspended together, having been captured within this natural 4.00 ct near-colorless diamond during formation. Such inclusions can be utilized to verify what environment a diamond may have formed in. In this case, the diamond’s genesis was likely in an ultramafic peridotite environment. The appearance of this unique inclusion series is playfully reminiscent of a snail.
