Peridot

Peridot is the birthstone for August. With a hardness of 6.5 to 7 on the Mohs scale, peridot is softer than many gems and cannot take hard wear. Peridot is recommended for pendants and earrings or rings that do are not subjected to daily or hard wear.

Peridots come in many shades of green including deep, emerald-like colors, yellowish green hues to neon brightness. Grass green is a coveted peridot color. Different localities produce different shades of green. Peridot is generally eye clean. it can be found in the hardened lava that carried it from deep within Earth’s mantle as well as in meteorites that traveled from outer space.