Peridot is the birthstone for August
Peridot is called “The Gem Of Light” and is as well the 15th anniversary and Leo Zodiac sign gemstone.
Why we are in love with Peridot?
- It is Extraterrestrial: Peridot crystals are found in meteorites, remnants of our solar system’s birth, from 4.5 billion years ago! Some rare extraterrestrial crystals are even big enough to facet as cut gemstones.
- It’s an Iron Gem: Most gems are coloured by impurities such as iron. Peridot’s colour is intrinsically yellow-green. Higher-quality stones have an intense colour.
- This gem has extremely high double refraction – when you look closely through the gem, you can see two of each pavilion facet.
This gem is a variety of the mineral olivine: found in peridotite rock from the earth’s upper mantle. The main sources for mining are: Myanmar (Burma), Pakistan, United States.
Peridot equates to: power, truth, prosperity, loyalty, growth, honesty, influence, dignity, fame, protection and love.
From these believes to legends, it’s just a small step. There are some legends around ‘The Gem of Light’:
- In Hawaii, it is considered Pele’s- the goddess of fire and volcanoes- tears.
- Believed to be Cleopatra’s most favoured gemstone.
- Greeks believed that this gemstone gave royal dignity to its wearer.
- Early Egyptian priests drank a special beverage called Soma from peridot cups, believing that draws them closer to the goddess of nature, Isis.
Healing properties:
- Heals lungs, breast and sinuses problems
- Wards off fear and depression
- Protects from nightmarers and evil spirits
- Improves the effects of medicines
This extreme gemstone is an ideal jewellery and accent for ornamental pieces. It is readily available for many types of jewellery. This gem can be very affordable and attractive, even in normal commercial qualities. It can also come in large sizes and very intense colours to satisfy the most discriminating coloured gemstone connoisseur.
In modern history, many celebrities choose to wear this fabulos gemstone, and The Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton is one of them:
Quality factors
When we are looking at the quality of a gemstone, these are the main quality factors we are checking: colour, clarity, cut and carat size.
For the ‘Gem of the Light’ these are the quality factors:
Colour: The best peridot is a pure grass green. Most of peridot is yellowish-green. Here is how a perfect green gemstone should look like:
Clarity: The finest peridot is eye clean. The tiny black spots might be visible with magnification only. Here how a clear geamstone looks like:
Cut: It is cut in a wide variety of styles, including ovals, emerald cuts, and cushions. Here are some examples of different cuts of this gemstone:
Carat weight: Large crystals of peridot have cut gems more than 50 carats in size.
Care and Cleaning
There are several ways to keep your ruby jewellery clean, here are some methods of caring and cleaning:
- Ultrasonic cleaning: Risky
- Steam cleaning: Never
- Warm, soapy water: Safe
KASHKA London is offering BESPOKE wedding and engagements rings, with you favourite gemstone, made for you only!
Write us to tell us about your requirements, we’d love to make your favourite jewellery!
If you want to find out about other gemstones, here is our gemstone edit about Pearls and Ruby.
Sources of information and pictures: www.gia.edu , Wikipedia.
