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Color:
Medium green with yellow modifiers
Durability:
Very good
Localities:
World wide but Norway and The United States produce the finest
examples.
Most
peridot is mined by Native Americans in Arizona on the
San Carlos Reservation.
In 1994, a new deposit of peridot was discovered in
Pakistan. The new mine is located 15,000 feet above
sea level in the Nanga Parbat region in the far west
of the Himalaya Mountains in the Pakistanian part of
Kashmir. |
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Peridot
Mg2SiO4,
Fe2SiO4
Peridot
is the gem variety of the mineral olivine, a magnesium
iron silicate. Iron is responsible for the color which
is quite consistent for peridot. The Egyptians fashioned
peridot beads as long as 3500 years ago. Turkish Sultan's
amassed the largest collection of peridot during the Ottoman
Empire. There are thousands of peridots on view at the
Topkapi Museum in Istanbul. It was a popular Victorian
gemstone. Peridot has long been associated with the sun,
bestowing royal dignity on it's wearer. It could also
protect against evil spirits, when fashioned as a bead,
strung on hair from an ass' tail, and worn as a bracelet
on the left arm.
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