Peridot in Space: August's Birthstone is Out of This World

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Think your August birthstone, peridot, is out of this world? You’re right!

Peridot belongs to the mineral family olivine, and olivine is found not only in volcanic sands in Hawaii and the deserts of the American Southwest, but in meteorites called pallasites. The pallasite type of meteorite is embedded with olivine crystal inclusions. Pallasites, which are often cut into thin sections to allow light to pass through the olivine bits, are in a class by themselves. In a pallasite, the crystal comes already “set” in a sense, with the stone wrapped in metal even before it’s been put into a gold mounting.

It’s impossible to look at a pallasite like the one in this ring (above) by Ferber’s Unique Fine Jewelry in Flowood, Mississippi, and not be mesmerized by its history, its formation in a world so completely hostile to human beings. Yet now it’s possible to hold it—or wear it—in hand.

Related: Peridot: Just the Facts

Pallasite Meteorite with Inclusions | Image Source: Adobe Stock

These stony-iron meteorites are thought to have come from the mantle of a planet that once orbited between Mars and Jupiter. It’s not known what happened to it, but any fan of Star Trek can imagine. And then, in 2011 researchers using the Spitzer infrared telescope at Caltech discovered crystals of olivine raining down into an embryonic star far away in the constellation of Orion.

Slouchy Ribbed Hat knitting pattern by Shannon Cook — Labeled “Cosmic Fountain of Crystal Rain,” the image of peridot crystals falling into a birthing star captured researchers’ imagination at Caltech. In the first image, the arrow points to the location of the new star. The next two artist’s illustrations show the gasses of the star exploding the olivine into the clouds, and the crystal rain. | Image Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech

Gemstones Raining Down

Gasses near the surface of the burgeoning star were hot enough to cook up the nascent olivine, then shoot it up into the clouds where it “ultimately fell down again like glitter,” said one of the researchers, Tom Megeath. Although the environment around the new star would be “very dark,” said another of the researchers, Charles Poteet, “tiny crystals might catch whatever light is present, resulting in a green sparkle against a black, dusty backdrop.” Peridots are found in less than 1% of known meteorites, making them very rare indeed.

Related: Designing with Peridot

Sharon Elaine Thompson is a GG and FGA who has been writing about gemstone and jewelry topics since 1987. She also writes fiction under the name Liz Hartley.

Originally published 8/15/2017. Updated 8/23/2023.

Peridot and August Birthstone Jewelry