Want to know about peridot?

Peridot is the birthstone for August babies! My grandmother was born in August and so was my sister, so of course she has my grandmother's large peridot ring. Boo.

I'll try to recover and tell you a little of what I've learned about the gem, peridot.

"An old legend says that the inhabitants of St. John's Island, in the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt, mined green stones as early as 1500 B.C. The stones were greatly prized by the Egyptian kings who dominated the island, and the inhabitants were forced to mine them under rather harsh conditions. It was believed that the gems glowed in the dark, so they were hunted at night and the locations of the glowing spots carefully marked for recovery the next day. Actually, today we know topaz is a completely different gem. The material mined is the gem form of the mineral olivine, which we know as peridot...

Many peridots were sent to Europe during the time of the Crusades, labeled as emeralds...

Peridot is a warm, soft olive or yellowish-green gem. It never reaches the intensity or shade green characteristic of emerald...

Customer tip: Peridot is not an expensive gem, except in very large-sized flawless pieces. The best material is green with no tinge of brown or yellow."

-Gems and Jewelry by Joel Arem