Peridot 4X6mm Faceted Tear Drops (Calibrated)

One color only, from volcano rock to finished strand.

Hold a strand of peridot up to a window and the whole thing reads one color: green with a squeeze of yellow in it, no brown anywhere. Peridot is one of the few stones that comes in a single hue, so the beads along a strand match each other without much sorting. Look closely and you may find flat disc inclusions like small lily pads, or a scatter of black specks. Those belong there. At 3mm the color stays light and lit.

The Egyptians called peridot the gem of the sun. Some held that it kept its owner safe from the terrors of the night, and that the protection was stronger when the stone was set in gold. Others strung the gems on donkey hair and tied them around the left arm to turn away evil spirits. Legends have long tied peridot to sunlight, and with it energy and happiness for the wearer. In Hawaiian stories the green grains near the lava rock were tears of Pele, goddess of the elements, said to fall from the sky with the rain. Crystal tradition still holds that peridot wards off nightmares. It is one of the August birthstones and the gem for a fifteenth anniversary.

Beliefs about stones are tradition, not advice. Read the full story.