August birthstone

Peridot is one of the few gemstones that forms in only one color: olive green. It is a magnesium iron silicate, created in the upper mantle under extreme heat and pressure, then carried to the surface by volcanic eruption. Some peridot has arrived from space — found inside iron-nickel meteorites that landed on earth. The most historically significant deposits come from Zabargad Island in Egypt, mined for over 3,500 years. Arizona, Pakistan, and Myanmar are also primary sources today.

The green is warm and specific: yellow-olive, alive in direct sunlight. The August-born often have this quality: solar, direct, someone who generates energy rather than drawing from others. Wear peridot on bright days, outdoors, when you want to feel the light.

Three ways to read this month: peridot (Modern), peridot (Planetary), sardonyx (Ancient). The oldest tradition assigned sardonyx to August — a banded stone of courage. Peridot replaced it on the modern list. August at Goldlip is peridot: the one that came from volcanoes, and sometimes from space.