Peridot is the official birthstone for the month of August as adopted by the American National Association of Jewelers in 1912. It is also the stone for the Zodiac sign of Libra. See the birthstone tables for additional references to this stone. Peridot may be given as a gem on the 16th wedding anniversary.

For as long as I can remember I have pronounced this gem as "pear-a-doe" and until recently believed this was correct. Someone took the time to write informing me that the correct pronunciation is actually per'i-dot so I have amended this page to hopefully educate others as well. However, it seems that pear-a-doe may have come into common usage as I found two dictionaries that offer both pronunciations.

Peridot is the gem variety of olivine and ranges between 6.5 and 7 on the Mohs scale of hardness.

Gem quality peridot comes from Arizona, Burma, Norway, islands in the Red Sea, Hawaii and is sometimes found in meteorites. It's been mined as a gemstone for thousands of years, and is mentioned in the Bible under the name of Chrysolite. Legend says that peridot was one of the favorite gemstones of Cleopatra and that some of the "emeralds" worn by her were actually peridot.