Everything you need to know about Peridot Gemstone

On the island of Zabargad, located in the Red Sea, the ancient Egyptians dug for peridot, where many of the enormous and exquisite peridots that are on display in museums now originated. They considered it to be the "sun's diamond" in Egyptian.

 

The calming yellowish-green tones and extensive history of this gem continue to make it a sought-after commodity today. Examples with a lot of saturation in the colour spectrum may be quite breathtaking, and there are beautiful gems of various sizes and prices suitable for use in jewellery.

Description

Peridot may be found in the form of irregular nodules, which are rounded rocks that contain peridot crystals on the interior.

These nodules can be found in specific lava flows in the United States, China, and Vietnam. Peridot can also infrequently be found in the form of enormous crystals lining veins or pockets in some solidified molten rock. Finland, Pakistan, Myanmar, and the island of Zabargad are all good places to find the latter.

 

Geologists think both deposits are related to the spreading of the sea floor when the Earth's crust breaks and rocks from the Earth's mantle are pushed up to the surface. This process occurs when tectonic plates collide and move away from one another.

Later earth movements may, on occasion—as is the case in Myanmar—lead to the modification, deformation, and incorporation of these rocks into mountain ranges.

In exceptional cases, peridot may be traced back to an alien origin by its presence in meteorites that eventually make their way to Earth.

The colour spectrum for peridot is somewhat limited, ranging from a brownish-green hue to a green that is either yellowish or completely green. However, the most frequent shade of peridot in jewellery is a yellowish green.

Gem-quality olivine may be found in the form of peridot. It contains iron and magnesium, and the presence of iron is responsible for the plant's cute yellowish-green colouring. The gem may be abundant in basalts, a kind of volcanic rock high in both boron and aluminium.

Facts

Absorption Spectrum	Colours	Crystallography
Peridot shows a strong iron spectrum with three main bands: Strong at 4930, narrow at 4730, and broad at 4530. While it also shows some vague bands at 6530 and 5290, the set of three evenly spaced bands is distinctive.	Forsterite: green, pale lemon yellow. Fayalite: green, yellowish, amber brown, brown, olive green.	Orthorhombic. Crystals are rare, usually striated prisms, corroded grains, rolled pebbles, or nodules called bombs in volcanic areas.
Dispersion	Birthstone	Cleavage
0.02	August	Imperfect to weak
Birefringence	Etymology	Inclusions
Varies with the composition of series members, 0.033-0.052. See "Identifying Characteristics" below.	Peridot comes from the Middle English peridot. Forsterite is named after the mineralogist J. Forster. Fayalite is named after Faial Island in the Azores, Portugal. Olivine comes from the Latin oliva for "olive" because of its colour.	Glass balls that look like bubbles in Hawaiian material. Some U.S. localities contain inclusions of Cr-spinel (not magnetite as previously thought); also noted are biotite grains. Peridots can also show distinctive "lily pad" inclusions. See "Identifying Characteristics" below.
Formula	Fracture	Hardness
Mg2SiO4-Fe2SiO4. Rarely Mn is also present.	Conchoidal	6.5 (fayalite) to 7 (forsterite)
Luminescence	Luminescence Present	Luster
None	No	Oily to vitreous
Occurrence	Optics	Pleochroism
Intermediate olivines, such as peridots, are the main constituent of basic igneous rocks. Concentrations in basalts and ultrabasic rocks can be mined for gem content. Forsterite occurs in magnesian limestones that have been altered by heat and pressure from igneous intrusion. Fayalite is rare, occasionally seen in lithophysae (balls of cristobalite) in obsidian.	Biaxial (+/-). Varies with the composition of series members. See "Identifying Characteristics" below.	None in forsterite. Peridots: weak, green to yellow-green. Fayalite: greenish-yellow/ orange-yellow/greenish-yellow.
Optic Sign	Phenomena	Refractive Index
Biaxial +, Biaxial -	Chatoyancy and asterism (very rare)	Varies with the composition of series members, 1.635-1.879. See "Identifying Characteristics" below.
Specific Gravity	Transparency	Varieties
3.2-4.39. (Varies with composition, see "Identifying Characteristics" below).	Transparent	Fayalite, Forsterite, Tephroite
Variety of	Wearability
Best Known Gemstones	Very Good

 

History

The colour green, and the gemstone peridot, in particular, have long been connected with the sun. Indeed, the Egyptians referred to it as the "jewel of the sun."

When set in gold, it was said to ward off "nightmares" for its wearer. To protect themselves from evil, some people placed a string of diamonds made from donkey hair around their left arm.

The Arabic term for "gem" is "Faridat," from which our word "peridot" is derived. The majority of peridot was brought to the surface by volcanoes, having originated deep inside the Earth. Even if some peridots were brought to Earth via meteorites, you often wouldn't find alien peridots in jewellery stores.

 

Topazios, now known as St. John's Island or Zabargad in the Red Sea, was formerly the site of ancient Egyptian mining operations for a stunning green diamond.

They say that until an entrepreneurial pharaoh drove them into the sea, the island was filled with snakes, making mining uncomfortable. So for thousands of years, this gem was misidentified, now identified as peridot. There were many things out there classified as "topaz," and this was just one of them.

Historians are split on whether or not Cleopatra's renowned emerald collection was truly peridot. Even in the Middle Ages, emerald was often mistaken for peridot.

Gems estimated to be 200 carats in size adorned the altar of the Three Holy Kings in Germany's Cologne Cathedral for centuries until it was discovered that they were sapphires. Indeed, these are peridots.

A member of the olivine family of minerals, peridots are found in the forsterite-fayalite solid-solution series. Those pieces of olivine that are green and of gem grade are called peridots. The magnesium (Mg) end is forsterite, while the iron (Fe) end is fayalite.

The iron in peridots gives them their distinctive green hue, making them an idiochromatic gem. Green is produced by ferrous iron (Fe2+), and yellow is made by ferric iron (Fe3+) in peridot. In addition, green in peridots may be enhanced by trace amounts of chromium (Cr).

The optimal peridot colour is achieved with an iron concentration of around 12 to 15% in olivines, whereas greater levels generate a "muddier" brown tint. Therefore, olivines with a composition closer to the forsterite end are often greener.

Those who are geographically closer to the iron-dominated fayalite tend to have warmer tones of yellow and brown. In this sense, peridots tend to fall closer to the forsterite end of the spectrum.

Peridots with a cat's eye or starstone quality are possible but very uncommon. Included gemstones may result in a 4-ray star or a weak cross pattern when cut into cabs.

Stone Sizes

The biggest jewels are fashioned from Myanmar material, then from Egypt. There are just a handful of peridots under 2 carats from Antarctica. It's unusual to find a cut Arizona stone larger than 10 carats.

 

• 310 Egyptian artifacts, 287 Myanmar artifacts, and 22.9 from the Smithsonian Institution (Washington, DC) (Arizona).
• Statistics from the Royal Ontario Museum (Toronto, Ontario, Canada): 108, 87.1, and 83.3 (Myanmar).
• Calgary, Alberta, Canada's Devonian Period: 82,4; 24.7 (Myanmar).
• Exhibit 136 from the Geological Museum in London (Myanmar).
• Topkapi Palace Museum in Istanbul has several very huge and high-quality cabochons.
• Among private collections, Egypt has 284.85, while the United States has 34.65. (Arizona).

One of the biggest known pristine crystals comes from Norway, and it weighs over a hundred carats and is now on display at a European museum.

Stone Care

There is a broad spectrum of olivines, with hardnesses from 6.5 (fayalite) to 7 (adamite) (forsterite). This means that peridots are almost as hard as quartz.

Domestic dust may still scratch them, though (which has a hardness like quartz). In addition, they are vulnerable to stress fractures.

 

To preserve the beauty of your peridot jewellery, it is important to place them in secure environments. Keep your peridot out of direct sunlight and clean it with a gentle brush, warm water, and soap. However, peridots are also affected by acids, such as those present in sweat. Therefore, rarely should peridot jewellery be worn directly on the skin.

FAQs

What is the stone peridot good for?

Peridot also called the "compassion stone," promotes emotional and mental equilibrium, which benefits one's physical health, quality of sleep, and the harmony of one's relationships. In addition, this cheerful brilliant green stone shares the amazing power to inspire eloquence and originality, as is the potential to provide joy and good cheer.

What does the peridot symbolize?

Peridot is often connected with wealth and success because of its likeness to the hue of money. The ancient Egyptians thought that wearing a peridot would protect them from the evils of the night. Therefore they named it the "jewel of the Sun."

Is peridot a real gem?

The ancient Egyptians recognized the beauty of the peridot, a jewel with a vibrant yellow-green hue. The mineral olivine forms the stone in volcanic lava flows all over the globe. Gems of this kind are sometimes discovered in meteorites, and some specimens are rare and precious.

Can I wear peridot in my left hand?

The best place to wear peridot is on the middle finger of any hand. This ring is also appropriate for the left hand's smallest finger. Wear it as a ring or a locket, depending on your preference. The locket, if worn, should rest on the wearer's chest, close to the heart.