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Peridot colours can be from green to
yellow to brown. The light yellow-green to greenish yellow
is sometimes called Chrysolite, and the dark yellow-green to
brownish-green to almost brown is sometimes called
Olivine. It is medium hard and fairly tough.
Peridot is found in St. John Island in the Red Sea,
Australia, Burma, Norway, South Africa, Zaire and
Arizona. Gem quality Peridot is very
rare.
The larger Peridot are more popular, and the deeper green
gemstones are more valuable. It was called "the gem of the sun" in
the olden days. People believed it could stop spells and
chase away evil spirits. When ground into a powder, Peridot
was used to cure asthma. When you held one under your
tongue, they thought it could lessen the thirst in fever.
Peridot was found and prized as a gemstone as early as 3,500
years ago.