August is one of the few months with three birthstones: peridot, spinel, and sardonyx. Each gemstone is beautiful and prized for its unique colors, characteristics, and cultural significance. This blog post covers everything you need to know about purchasing and owning the two birthstones we carry in our store - peridot, and spinel.

Peridot Crystal

Peridot

Peridot is August’s primary birthstone and is commonly recognized for its beautiful lime green glow. Peridot forms deep in the earth and is brought to the surface by volcanoes. Hawaiians once believed that peridot was the tears of Pele, the volcano goddess. It is also occasionally found inside meteorites.

Peridot gets its color from its composition rather than trace impurities like many other gemstones. This is why peridot only comes in one color though the shades of peridot vary from yellow-green to brown-green.

Over the centuries, peridot has often been mistaken for emerald, and it’s theorized that Cleopatra’s famous emerald collection was peridot.

Metaphysical Properties

Peridot is known as the stone of compassion. It is believed to bring good health and peace to relationships by balancing the intellectual and emotional sides. It is said to calm anger, attract love, and bring renewal to all things.

The color green is associated with nature, and lime green sits right between yellow and green on the color wheel, giving the effect of both colors. Lime green hues promote creativity, freshness, positivity, and growth.

Woman wearing peridot ring

Peridot Jewelry

The highest quality peridot gemstones have a deep color and excellent transparency. With a hardness of 6.5 - 7 on the Mohs Hardness Scale, peridot is softer than other gemstones and won’t stand up to hard wear. A ring set with peridot should be worn with care and is not recommended for everyday wear. That being said, peridot looks stunning in all settings including, rings, earrings, necklaces, and bracelets.

Spinel

Spinel crystal

Spinel has recently become a popular gemstone alternative to ruby or pink sapphires. In fact, spinel was mistaken for ruby for centuries. Some of history’s most famous rubies have turned out to be spinel, including the red spinel found in Great Britain’s Imperial State Crown.

Although red is currently the most popular color of spinel, it comes in a wide variety of colors, including blue, green, purple, orange, pink, and grey.

Metaphysical Properties

Spinel is believed to inspire passion, longevity, and devotion. t is also said to positively affect mental stamina and reduce forgetfulness.

Because of the wide variety of colors of spinel, there is a range of color energy available to choose from. Red is the color of passion, anger, power, and love. Blue, another popular color of spinel, provides a healing and soothing energy.

Woman wearing spinel necklace

Spinel Jewelry

High-quality stones should have no visible inclusions, and the number and size of inclusions are an important part of determining the value of a spinel gemstone. Spinel is an 8 on the Mohs Hardness Scale, making it an ideal gemstone to be used in all settings and looks stunning in rings, earrings, necklaces, and bracelets.

Conclusion

August birthdays are fortunate to have three gemstones to choose from, and with spinel coming in so many colors, many choices are available. At Park City Jewelers, we have a wide variety of gorgeous peridot and spinel jewelry. Shop online or in-store today to find the perfect piece you’ve been dreaming of. Don’t forget that one of our full-time jewelers is ready and available to make you a custom piece of jewelry that you'll cherish for generations.