The August Birthstone is Peridot

The birthstone for August is the lovely yellow-green gemstone Peridot and the August birthstone color is light green.

The alternative birthstone for August is Sardonyx, and the recently added second official birthstone is Spinel.

The Peridot gemstone is associated with growth, prosperity, love, loyalty and protection.

The origin of ‘peridot’ is not clear but may come from the Arabic word “faridat”, which means “gem.”

Peridot is one of the Zodiac birthstones for Virgo (Aug 23 – Sep 23) and Sardonyx is one of the Zodiac birthstones for Leo (Jul 23 – Aug 22).

The birth flowers for August are the Gladiolus and Poppy.

The second official birthstone for August, Spinel, was added to the birthstone list in 2016.

Spinel colors are mostly in the orange to red and pink range, but it also occurs in shades of purple, blue and green.

Red spinel and ruby are both colored by chromium and are very similar in many respects, thus can be easily confused.

The Black Prince's Ruby in the British Crown Jewels is in fact made up of a very small ruby embedded in mostly red spinel.

Synthetic spinal has been manufactured since 1910 and can be used to produce imitation rubies and diamonds.

The main countries where spinel is found are India, Madagascar, Mayanmar (Burma) and Sri Lanka.

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