Common in early Greek and Roman Jewelry, Peridot has been popular since 1500 BC when the Egyptians started mining it on Zeberget, later known as St. John’s Island, about 50 miles off the Egyptian coast in the Red Sea.
 

Peridot mining was traditionally done at night when the stone’s natural glow is easier to see, the ancient Egyptians even believed that Peridots became invisible under the sun’s rays.
 

Hawaiian natives believe Peridot is the goddess Pele's tears, while biblical references to the gem include the high priest's breastplate ­ studded with a stone for each of the twelve tribes of Israel, one being Peridot.
 

The Ottoman Sultans gathered the largest collection during their 600-year reign from 1300-1918, with an impressive array of both loose gemstones as well as Peridot earrings, Peridot rings and other Peridot Jewelry.
 

Powdered Peridot has been used to cure asthma and a Peridot placed under the tongue of someone in the grip of a fever was believed to lessen their thirst. Legend has it that drinking from a Peridot goblet can increase the potency of medicines.
 

Pirate’s believed Peridot had the power to drive away evil spirits (and the night’s terrors), especially if set in gold. But as protection from evil spirits they believed it must be pierced, strung on donkey hair and worn on the left arm.
 

Possibly the most unusual Peridot is that which comes from meteorites called pallasites. Some have even been facetted and set in Jewelry, one of the few extraterrestrial gemstones known to man.
 

Peridot is a gem variety of forsterite-olivine, which exhibits golden lime-greens and rich grass-greens.
 

colored by iron, Peridot is an idiochromatic gem meaning that its color is an essential part of its composition - unlike gems such as ruby or sapphire that are colored by trace elements present as impurities.
 

Because of the way Peridot splits and bends the rays of light passing through it, it has a velvety, "sleepy" appearance - a shining rich glow, and a slightly greasy luster.
 

The purer green a Peridot is, the higher the value. The green hues of Peridot vary in color from rich grass-like greens reminiscent of emeralds and tsavorite, to yellowish greens that may at times have hints of brown. While the ideal or perhaps most valued color hue is this rich grass-like green, many Peridots with slight yellowish hues exhibit attractive colors that can still command premium prices.
 

Peridot is found in several places around the world, but interestingly not in nearly as many locales as diamonds or sapphire, technically making it rarer!
 

In 1994, an exciting new deposit of Peridot was discovered in Pakistan, and these stones are among the finest ever seen. The new mine is located 15,000 feet above sea level in the Nanga Parbat region in the far west of the Himalayan Mountains in the Pakistani part of Kashmir. Beautiful large crystals of Peridot have been found, some that cut magnificent large gemstones. One gem was more than 300 carats!
 

Other locations include the U.S. and China. The famed Peridot-producing island of Zabargad off Egyptian Red Sea coast has now been abandoned.
 

Peridot is an excellent and highly affordable substitute for emerald, exhibiting top colors, and offers an unbeatable value for money to the consumer.