Thursday Thirteen ~ The Peridot Edition

Thirteen Things about Peridot Peridot can be found in Egyptian jewellery from the early 2nd millennium B.C.. The stones used at that time came from a deposit on a small volcanic island in the Red Sea, some 45 miles off the Egyptian coast at Aswan. The ancient Romans too were fond of this gemstone and esteemed its radiant green shine, which does not change even in artificial light. For that reason they nicknamed it the 'emerald of the evening'. Peridot is also found in Europe in medieval churches, where it adorns many a treasure, for example one of the shrines in Cologne Cathedral. This gemstone has no fewer than three names: 'peridot', 'chrysolite', from the Greek 'gold stone', and 'olivine', for the peridot is the gemstone form of the mineral olivine. In the gemstone trade it is called 'peridot', derived from the Greek word 'peridona', which means something like 'to give richness'. Peridot has a hardness of 6.5. Peridot is the anniversary gemstone for the 16th year of marriage. Peridot is used to help dreams become a reality. Legend has it that pirates favored peridot to protect them against evil. When the peridot was set in gold it also protected the wearer from terrors in the night. Peridot is the US State Gemstone of Nevada. Peridot is perhaps derived from the French word peritot which means unclear, probably due to the inclusions and cloudy nature of large stones. It could also be named from the Arabic word faridat which means gem. In either case, peridot has been mined as a gemstone for an estimated four thousand years or better, and is mentioned in the Bible under the Hebrew name of pitdah. Peridot gems along with other gems were probably used in the fabled Breastplates of the Jewish High Priest, artifacts that have never been found. Historical legend has it that peridot was the favorite gemstone of Cleopatra. Peridot Mesa, located on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation east of Globe in Gila County, is the most productive locality for peridot in the world.