5 Facts You Need to Know When Buying a Peridot Necklace

With its dramatic yellow-green tinge and high refraction, the peridot necklace is a gorgeous and elegant jewelry piece. We can’t decide whether we like it for its unique color, for its stunning clarity or for the fact that it looks as if it came from outer space. Well, some of it has. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. You are here to find out why you need a peridot necklace and how to buy fashion necklaces, so let’s get started. Read on to discover 5 interesting facts about this stunning gem.

Peridot – The Alien Gem

The peridot shares more with our extra-terrestrial friends than the greenish color. Peridot crystals have been found in meteorites and even in stardust that was brought back by the robotic probes. It is an ancient gem that we can trace back to 4.5 billion years ago to the pallasite meteorites – the remnants of our solar system’s birth.

However, you can find peridot also in the Earth’s upper mantle. It is true, though, that wearing a peridot necklace will make you feel extra-terrestrial due to its unique yellow-green color. This spectacular color comes from the iron inside it and its high double refraction make it a very coveted gem.

Cleopatra Also Had a Peridot Necklace

The name of this gorgeous gem comes from the word “faridat” which, in Arabic, means “gem”. Yes, the translation of peridot is literally gem. The Egyptians loved it so much that they deemed it “gem of the sun”. To them, wearing a peridot necklace meant protecting yourself from the terrors of the night and warding off evil spirits.

Regarding Cleopatra, she had a passion for green gemstones. She even had a famous emerald collection that many people would covet. However, historians and gemmologists now agree that her emerald jewelry was, in fact, peridot. This confusion was not uncommon at the time as both peridots and emeralds share a vibrant green color. We may never know for sure whether Cleopatra had a peridot necklace or not, but the fact that she adored green gems remains.

The Color Is Most Important When Valuing a Peridot Necklace

As you probably know, there are four quality factors for each gemstone. However, the ways we relate to these factors differ. For diamonds, for example, clarity is the most important. When it comes to buying a peridot necklace, though, the color is what you need to look at.

Most period is yellow-green. However, if you can find a peridot necklace with a pure grass green color, you can expect its value to go up. This is the most wanted color for peridot. As this gem usually has great clarity, this factor doesn’t affect its value as much. Of course, peridot with low clarity will be less valuable but, truth be said, it doesn’t happen very often to see a peridot necklace with a low-clarity gem. The cut is also a value factor but this gem looks fantastic in many types of cuts, including ovals, emerald, and cushion. Last, but not least, the size of the gem is also important when buying a peridot necklace. Throughout history, some of the biggest peridot gems have weighed as much as 50 carats.

Peridot Is Not a Very Hard Gem

When thinking of buying a peridot necklace, you also have to think about caring for it. Beautiful as it is, peridot is not a very hard gem. On the Mohs hardness scale, it gets a score between 6.5 and 7, which is borderline low. This doesn’t mean that peridot is not durable, tough. It only means that you need to take extra good care of it.

Avoid mechanical cleaning methods and clean peridot jewelry only by hand. You can use a soft jewelry brush or a damp microfiber cloth and clean it with patience. Try to keep your peridot necklace away from harsh chemicals such as detergents, perfume, and even body lotion. It is best not to shower or swim with it. Another important thing is to take it to a jewelry inspection once a year so that the jeweler can assess the setting. This way, you can make sure that the gem is still secure.

When getting a peridot necklace, try buying one with the gem set in a bezel or flush setting as these are the most secure. And, of course, the most important rule. When you are not wearing your necklace, hang it from a necklace tree to prevent it from getting tangled.

Peridot Is the Birthstone of August

We saved the best for last, of course. We believe that any woman should have a peridot necklace. However, those of you born in August have an extra reason for getting one. Wearing your birthstone is a fabulous idea and so is offering it as a gift. Well, not your birthstone, of course. We are talking about the recipient.

If somebody dear is born in August, then get them a peridot necklace. And while you’re at it, get one for yourself too. You deserve to have gorgeous jewelry.

If you enjoyed reading about the peridot and discovering this stunning gem, continue on our blog to see even more articles about jewelry. If you want to check out the peridot necklace featured in here or feel like discovering more unique birthstone jewelry, we invite you to visit Ana Luisa online jewelry shop.

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Ruxandra

Ruxandra is a fashion blogger who teaches fashion stumped twenty to thirty somethings how to shop their jewelry boxes for polished new ensembles. Her work has been featured in Vogue, Fashionista, Nylon, and Refinery29.