Peridot

Item Description

Peridot is a well-known gem, and one of the oldest known stones through history, as the ancient Egyptians mined Peridot stones on a small volcanic island in the Red Sea called which was known historically as Topazios, but it's called St. John's Island dating as far back as 1500 BCE. Peridot was referred to as the “gem of the sun,” by the Egyptians, as they believed the stone protected its wearer from terrors of the night. Today, Peridot is the traditional birthstone for August, but supply has always been limited in terms of places where gem quality material was found. The amount of gem grade Peridot on the market received a serious boost about 25 years ago when the first great gem Peridot crystals started coming out of Pakistan. These stones are some of the finest color I've seen for Peridot and the sheer size of some of the gems that have come out is amazing. This stone has a fantastic lively green color, no brown overtones. In fact, you rarely see Peridot gems with a color like this, they're usually much more pale. It's a great size stone from this area, combined with the fact that the stone is only very slightly included, makes it a great gem for collectors or for someone who wants a stone for a gorgeous piece of jewelry. The cut on the stone is a "Portuguese Oval" cut. It's not easy to find Peridot gems over 1-2 carats, let alone 4 carats like this gem.