Peridot (pronounced pair-a-doe), or precious olivine, is a volcanic gemstone that was once treasured by native Hawaiians as the tears of the Goddess-of-Fire, Pele. The transparent green stone is a variety of the mineral olivine, a silicate found in many igneous rocks and a major constituent of the Earth's upper mantle. The crystal system is orthorhombic with a hardness slightly less than quartz. Small crystallites of peridot are often found in the basalt rocks created by volcanoes and have been found in iron-nickel meteorites called pallasites. Some specimens of extraterrestrial peridot have even been faceted and set into jewelry.
History &Lore In ancient Egypt, peridot was mined on an island called Zeberget. Mining was done at night because legend said that peridot could not be easily seen during the day, but its pale iridescent green was easily illuminated by lamplight at night. It was for this characteristic that the Romans called peridot the "evening emerald." Peridot later was also often used to decorate medieval churches, and was probably carried back to Europe by the Crusaders. Large peridots, more than 200 carats in size, adorn the shrine of the Three Magi at the Cologne Cathedral.
Peridot was considered to have the power to drive away evil spirits and that power was even more intense when the stone was set in gold. It was also said to strengthen the power of any medicine drunk from goblets carved from the gemstone. Some historians even suspect that at least some of the "emeralds" worn by Cleopatra were actually peridot.
Peridot
- Category: Mineral
- Chemical: formula (Mg, Fe)2SiO4
- Identification:
Color Yellow, to yellow-green, olive-green, to brownish
- Crystal: system Orthorhombic
- Cleavage: Poor
- Fracture: Conchoidal
- Luster: Vitreous (glassy)
- Streak: White
- Specific gravity: 3.2-4.3
- Refractive index: 1.64-1.70
- Birefringence +0.036
- Hardness: 6.5 to 7.0 (mohs)
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