August — Peridot

Some of it never belonged to this planet at all. Peridot is one of very few gemstones found in meteorites — the same mineral, olivine, arriving from somewhere else.

There is an island in the Red Sea the Egyptians worked for three and a half thousand years for it. Zabargad. The mining was done at night, because the stone is easier to spot in low light than in desert glare.

It is the one gemstone that comes in only one colour. There is no blue peridot, no red one. Only green, darker or lighter depending on how much iron is in it.