For those of you with this lackluster gem as your birthstone (August), or horoscope month (Leo), or this just happens to be your sixteenth wedding anniversary, there is relief. Unfortunately there is no other birthstone designation...but Peridot can be very beautiful, let me prove it.
Once thought be be emerald during the times of Cleopatra in Egypt. If Peridot was mistaken for emerald during these ancient times; do you really think that it was the color of the washed out pale yellow green that is all so common in most jewelry establishments? Cleopatra the ruler of Egypt would have possessed the finest jewelry and gemstones. I could assure you that anything that would not meet a discerning rulers eye would not be admired or adorn.
So does such a Peridot exist, a stone rivaling that of fine emerald? Peridot was once mistaken for emerald is is referred to a evening emerald, night emerald and bastard emerald.
Peridot can approach the pure hue medium to medium dark green of fine emerald, but will never have a blue tint which is observed in fine emerald. Why is this? Peridot is colored by iron and gems that are colored by iron usually have a brownish or yellowish mask. Fine Emerald is colored by chromium a special element that allows the stone to glow a rich slightly bluish green, especially in ultraviolet light (sunlight).
The Peridot most likely observed by H.R.M. Cleopatra was of a medium to medium dark pure green hue with perhaps the very slightest trace of yellow. I have seen this material occurring in Pakistan/Afghanistan, and in Ethiopia. The color of this material catches your attention, if you are a fan of green, and it is almost indescribable.
So is this material Rare?
Fine Peridot described above is easily seen in very large crystals, so it is common, but there is far less of this fine quality when compared to the pale yellowish green material pumped out of Arizona and China.
Why Doesn't my jeweler have the fine quality?
Probably because your local jeweler does not know it exists, most jewelers are not trained gemologists and will rely on their ego or what good suppliers tell them to be true. Also, the fine material is priced 3-5 times higher than the commercial grade, if your a mass market jeweler price and the bottom line means everything.
Today the general public is much more discerning and demanding of fine quality. Many other products are produced mass market and fine gemstones are a fashionable way to make a statement. With fine quality gems your not only making a statement your also investing in a gem that will become a rare treasure or possibly antique in the future.
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