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| Peridot |  Peridot (it is pronounced "pair-uh-doe") is the gemstone worth type of forsteritic olivine. The chemical formula of peridot is (Mg, Fe)2SiO4, with magnesium in greater amounts than iron. The name of the mineral is considered to originate from either the Arabic word faridat denoting "gem". Peridot is one of a small number of gemstones that occurs in only one color. The intensity of green depends on how much iron is comprised in the crystal system, and changes from yellow-green to olivaceous to brown-green. In addition Peridot is frequently called a "poor man's emerald". Olivine is an extremely plentiful stone, but gem-worth peridot is quite rare. Peridot crystals have been accumulated from iron-nickel meteorites.
Gem worth peridot originates from the primordial resource of Zagbargad (Zebirget) Island in the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt; Mogok, Myanmar (previously called as Burma); Kohistan, Pakistan; Minas Gerais, Brazil; Eifel, Germany; Chihuahua, Mexico; Ethiopia; Australia; Peridot Mesa, San Carlos Apache Reservation, Gila County, Arizona and Salt Lake Crater, Oahu, Hawaii, USA. The premium value peridot has in olden times originated either from Myanmar or Egypt. But latest occurrences in Pakistan are contesting that statement with some incomparable patterns. The Arizona gem minerals are of lesser grade, but are far more plentiful and are therefore much more inexpensive. A predictable 80 - 95% of all globe manufacture of peridot derives from Arizona. The Myanmar, Pakistani and Egyptian gemstones are scarcer and of better value and therefore rather precious advancing the per carat worth of top gems. Probably the most remarkable peridot is that which originates from iron-nickel meteorites called pallasites. Some are actually cut and reset in jewels.
Peridot is possibly originated from the French word peritot which denotes blurred, maybe because of the impurities and hazy appearance of huge minerals. Peridot has been quarried as a gem for a probable four thousand years, and is talked about in the Bible under the Hebrew title of pitdah. Peridot gems together with other gemstones were most likely to be employed in the spieled Breastplates of the Jewish High Priest, works that have never been discovered. The Greeks and Romans called peridot correspondingly as topazion and topazius and such a name was afterward given to topaz, to end the misunderstanding with the two gemstones. Ancient myth has it that peridot was the most beloved gem of Cleopatra. Pliny described the green stone from Zagbargad Island in 1500 B.C. Even until lately jewelers have employed the term "chrysolite" (Latin name for golden mineral) in alluding to peridot gems for some cause. Besides, this term has been applied to allude to further gems, of a more golden color.
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