PERIDOT

• Product name: Natural Peridot
• Shape: Rectangle
• Color: Light Green
• Stone size mm: 7.50x5.80 - 7.70x5.70
• Weight: 1.40 carats
• Stone clarity: No visible inclusions
• Treatment: Untreated
• Origin: Pakistan

Peridot, sometimes called chrysolite, is a transparent yellowish-green variety of olivine. Peridot is one of the few gemstones that occurs in only one color.

Peridot can be found in mafic and ultramafic rocks that occur in mantle lava xenoliths and peridotites. The gem is found in silica-deficient rocks such as volcanic basalt and palasitic meteorites. Peridot is one of two gemstones observed to have formed not in the Earth's crust, but in the molten rock of the upper mantle. Gem-quality peridot is rare on Earth's surface due to its susceptibility to weathering during its movement from deep in the mantle to the surface. Peridot has the formula (Mg, Fe)2SiO4. Peridot is one of the birthstones for the month of August.

Peridot is one of the few gemstones that occurs in only one color: an olive green. The intensity and shade of green, however, depends on the percentage of iron in the crystal structure, so the color of individual peridot stones can vary from yellow to olive to brownish green. In rare cases, peridot can be a medium-dark, pure green shade with no secondary yellow or brown undertones. Crystals suitable for cutting peridot stones are rare; as a result peridot is considered to be precious. In the ancient world, mining of peridot, then called topaz, on the island of St. John in the Red Sea began around 300 BC.

Peridot has been prized since the earliest civilizations for its purported protective powers to ward off fears and nightmares, according to superstitions. Some people believe that they carry the gift of the "inner glow", sharpening the mind and opening it to new levels of awareness and growth, helping it to recognize and realize its spiritual destiny and purpose. There is no scientific evidence for such claims.

Peridot is sometimes confused with emeralds and other green gemstones. Noted gemologist George Frederick Kunz discussed the confusion between emeralds and peridot in many church treasures, especially the "Three Magi" treasure in Cologne Cathedral, Germany.

The main source of peridot olivine today is the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona. It is also mined at another location in Arizona and in Arkansas, Hawaii, Nevada and New Mexico at Kilbourne Hole in the US; and in Australia, Brazil, China, Egypt, Kenya, Mexico, Myanmar (Burma), Norway, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Tanzania.