Peridot is a bright yellow green or golden green variety of olivine. It was known by the
ancient Egyptians as the gem of the sun, and has enjoyed a mystical reputation with its
alleged powers including: warding off anxiety, enhancement of speech
articulation, and success in relationships and marriage.
Common in early Greek and Roman jewelry, peridot has been popular since 1500 BC when the
Egyptians started mining it on Zeberget, later known as St. John’s Island, about 50 miles off
the Egyptian coast in the Red Sea. It was a dangerous business back then as the island was
infested with poisonous serpents, which a later Pharaoh had driven into the sea.
Peridot mining was traditionally done at night when the stone’s natural glow is easier to
see, the ancient Egyptians even believed that peridots became invisible under the sun’s
rays.
Hawaiian natives believe peridot is the goddess Pele's tears, while biblical references to
the stone include the high priest's breastplate studded with a stone for each of the twelve
tribes of Israel, one being peridot. Cleopatra reportedly had a fine collection of emerald
jewelry, which was really peridot but it was the Ottoman Sultans who gathered the largest
collection during their 600-year reign from 1300-1918, with an impressive array of both loose
gem stones as well as peridot earrings, peridot rings and other peridot jewelry.
Powdered peridot has been used to cure asthma and a peridot placed under the tongue of
someone in the grip of a fever will lessen their thirst. Legend has it that drinking from a
peridot goblet can increase the potency of medicines.
It is said that pirate’s believed peridot had the power to drive away evil spirits (and the
night’s terrors), especially if set in gold. But as protection from evil spirits it must be
pierced, strung on donkey hair and worn on the left arm.
Possibly the most unusual peridot is that which comes from meteorites called pallasites.
Some have even been facetted and set in jewelry, the only extraterrestrial gemstones known to
man.
Coloration
Peridot ranges in color from light yellow-green to the intense bright green of new grass to
a rich olive. Because of the way peridot splits and bends the rays of light passing through it,
it has a velvety, "sleepy" appearance - a shining rich glow, and a slightly greasy luster.
While, typically, a bright golden green, Peridot can vary to darker green or greenish yellow.
Peridot has also been known as Chrysolite, although this is an old name which was applied
fairly indiscriminately to any yellow and greenish yellow stones. It was also once incorrectly
called topaz. There are also brown peridots. Since 1952, many stones believed to be brown
peridots have been found to be a different mineral called Sinhalite.
The purer green a peridot is, the higher the value. Any tinge of brown greatly diminishes
the price as well as any visible flaws.
Sources
Peridot was originally found on Egypt's St. John's Island once known as Topazios, in the Red
Sea, which is now known as Zeberget. It is also found in Burma, Sri Lanka, USA and Norway.
In 1994, an exciting new deposit of peridot was discovered in Pakistan, and these stones are
among the finest ever seen. The new mine is located 15,000 feet above sea level in the Nanga
Parbat region in the far west of the Himalayan Mountains in the Pakistani part of Kashmir.
Beautiful large crystals of peridot were found, some that cut magnificent large gemstones.
One stone was more than 300 carats.
Technical Characteristics
|
Chemical Composition:
|
Magnesium Iron Silicate (MgFe)2SiO4
|
|
Hardness:
|
6.5 - 7
|
|
Specific Gravity:
|
3.34
|
|
Refractive Index (R.I.):
|
1.650 - 1.688 to 1.668 - 1.706
|
|
Bi-refringence:
|
0.038
|
|
Optic Sign:
|
Positive
|
|
Optical Character:
|
Biaxial
|
|
|
