Forsterite var: Peridot (sharp gemmy crystals)

Item Description

Well-formed, sharp Peridot crystals are not terribly common in nature. Most pieces of this gem green variety of Forsterite that are found are typically either facet material or crude / granular examples. There are a handful of localities in the world that produce exemplary crystals of Peridot, and Sapat Gali is certainly in the highest echelon in terms of size, color, sharpness and transparency. These attractive Peridots crystals began showing up in the early 1990s and no world locality has produced the quality and quantity of euhedral Peridot crystals like Sapat Gali. This thumbnail sized piece is a vibrant green colored, sharp, well-formed, euhedral, lustrous, very gemmy crystal group, free of matrix. The top portion of the specimen is almost completely transparent when backlit (I would say it's nearly gem quality). A lot of the Peridot crystals from this locality are either dull or rounded, but this one is better than most due to it's well-formed faces with good luster. The terminations are damage-free, though slightly etched, and the piece glowing with gorgeous green color even with modest backlighting. Specimen weight is 10.76 grams.