AUGUST BIRTHSTONE: PERIDOT

Peridot comes from the most abundant material in the earth's mantle, known as olivine because it is the color of pale green olives. It is the only gemstone, apart from diamonds, to form below the Earth's crust and it usually reaches the open air by what the Smithsonian Institute describes as a 'special delivery elevator', which happens when a surge of magma picks it up as it rushes to the surface ready to emerge from a volcano.

Peridot has been a favored gemstone since the beginning of recorded history. Many green stones originally believed to be emeralds were revealed to be peridot. These gems can be found in many treasures of the ancient world. A gold throne at the Topkapi Palace Museum in Istanbul, Turkey is covered with more than 900 peridot gemstones of varying sizes.