Peridot

This stone has been known for a very long time. Gem-quality specimens of the mineral olivine are called Peridot. Peridot has an olive – or bottle –green. Traces of my history are found 3,500 years in ancient Egypt.

Hardness: -7.0

Appearance:
Typically olive green, olivine can be a strong, almost bottle green, or yellowish green. The most valuable Peridot is medium in tone. Peridot is available in a variety of shapes from faceted to cabochon. It has a vitreous luster. Gems of several carats are often seen, but very large stones are hardly ever found.

Occurrence:
Much Peridot comes from Arizona. Some are also mined in China, Myanmar (Burma) and Pakistan.

Value:
Today, Peridot is not so highly priced. Even exceptionally fine, large stones do not fetch very high prices and smaller once are very low-priced.