Peridot Fun Facts

• Peridot is the birthstone of August and is also representative of the 16th wedding anniversary.


• It can range in color from a light yellow-green to an intense grass green, to an olive tone.
  
• Best colored peridot has an iron percentage of less than 15%, and includes nickel and chromium as trace elements.


• Peridot has been mined as a gemstone for an estimated four thousand years and is mentioned in the Bible under the Hebrew name of pitdah.


• It was used by the Egyptians as early as 1500 BC and was considered the gem of the sun.


• Early miners looked for peridot at night because they believed that light from the moon made the crystals easier to find. After marking the locations of the crystals they came back in the daylight to dig them up.


• Gem quality peridot comes from Zagbargad Island in the Red Sea, Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), Australia, Brazil, Germany, Mexico, Pakistan, and Arizona and Hawaii in the USA.


• The most unusual olive green gem is that which comes from meteorites called pallasites.


• Peridot is considered a tonic for the whole body and protects the wearer from negativity.


• Peridot is associated with stress reduction and relaxation.


• Powdered peridot has been used to cure asthma and a peridot placed under the tongue of someone in the grip of a fever is said to lessen his or her thirst.