Peridot Bracelet 5mm — Green August Birthstone Gemstone

Peridot is one of the few gemstones that only ever shows up in one colour. There's no blue peridot, no pink, no colourless version waiting to be found. It is green, always, and that green is built into the mineral itself rather than borrowed from an impurity. This bracelet puts it in smooth 5 mm rondelle beads at 7 inches, a fine and understated string rather than a statement piece, which suits a stone whose appeal is its particular olive brightness.

Where does that colour come from, then, if not a trace element? Peridot is the gem form of olivine, and iron is part of its basic chemistry rather than a stray inclusion. More iron pushes it toward olive, less toward a lively yellow green, but there's no recipe that removes the green altogether. The consequence for buyers is a pleasant one: peridot is essentially never dyed or colour treated, because there would be no point. What you see is what the mineral does on its own.

A closer look

Here's the part that tends to surprise people. Peridot forms deep in the earth's mantle and only reaches the surface because volcanoes carry it up, which makes it one of very few gems you can hold that didn't form in the crust at all. It has also been found in pallasite meteorites, scattered through iron from the shattered core of an ancient body, so there is peridot on earth that was never part of this planet. Historically the finest came from Zabargad in the Red Sea, mined for thousands of years, and there's a persuasive argument that Cleopatra's famed emeralds were peridot all along. Traditionally it carries associations with warmth, abundance and lightening a heavy mood, and it's the August birthstone.

• Stone: Natural peridot, gem quality olivine
• Beads: 5 mm smooth rondelle
• Length: 7 inches, 18 cm
• Colour: Bright olive to yellow green
• Chakra: Heart
• Also linked to: August birthstone, Leo and Virgo

Wearing your peridot bracelet

Peridot sits around 6.5 to 7 on the Mohs scale, so it handles daily wear, but it has two genuine sensitivities worth respecting. It dislikes sudden temperature changes, so don't move it from a hot car to cold water. And it reacts badly to acids, which includes some household cleaners and, over time, sweat left sitting on the beads. The habit that solves both is simple: take it off before cleaning or exercising, and wipe it down with a soft damp cloth afterward.

Please note: crystals are not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Keep small pieces away from young children.