Vardy's Jewelers

What do volcanoes, asteroids, beautiful tropical beaches and one of history’s greatest temptresses have in common?

PERIDOT!

Peridot (pronounce it pear-UH-doh or pear-I-dot, either are correct) is the rich, scintillating yellow-green birthstone for August. Also called olivine, this sparkling gem has been revered--and confused for other stones--for thousands of years. The name comes from the Arabic faridat, meaning gem. Most peridot forms deep in the earth’s crust, to be brought to the surface of the earth by volcanoes. There are actually four beaches in the world with green sand, caused by the action of the tides on olivine deposits on volcanic islands, such as Papakolea Beach on the Big Island in Hawaii.

We know peridot comes from deep inside the planet--did you know we find it in the remains of other planets, when they come crashing to earth?

Pallasite Peridot, as it’s called, is extraterrestrial in origin--olivine-rich meteorites that fall to earth. These stones are very, very rare (please don’t ask us for one!), and if someone claims the stone is from outer space, make sure they have a lab report to prove it. Click here to view a slice of peridot-rich meteorite, sometimes known as Fukang Meteorite, after the region in China where a massive quantity of this rare material was found in 2000.

Peridot also enjoys a connection to royalty. Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, was a passionate lover of ‘emeralds’--but evidence, such as a viper-infested volcanic island off the coast of Egypt rich in peridot and the fact that the only notable deposit of emeralds in North Africa was mined out about a thousand years before she was even born--indicates that the rich green stones she loved as much as Mark Antony and probably a lot more than Julius Caesar (sorry, Jules!) were probably peridot, rather than emerald. It was about two thousand years before gemology was a thing, so perhaps we should cut her some slack?

Live your best life, Cleopatra.