This bright open peridot-green oval is eye clean and very flashy. It is not noticeably dichroic and tourmaline would not be my first guess in the identification game. It weighs 2.87 carats.
I think that the idea of “inventing” modern birthstones that the trade can supply in abundance at a profit is pure genius. It gives a thoughtful, but naive buyer an easy out, when looking for that special personal gift that he really didn’t spend enough time or money to get. And women go along with it.
I was once asked to look over a pile of material that women had found at a mine down south. It was an amazing pile of junk that could not have even come from the same geological setting. After hearing about a friend that had been so impressed with finding rough gems, that she spent thousands of dollars having them cut and set in jewelry, I had to try and be nice about her pile of junk. And I was.
As I gave her a personal journey threw the tourmaline collection, she confessed that her birth stone was peridot. Now I went for the rational and explained that tourmaline had a great green answer for every peridot and it was more durable with a higher index of refraction. Tourmalines, like this beautiful medium toned, brightly flashing, peridot green tourmaline tried to reach out to her. Now she tried to let me down gently, by reassuring me that my tourmaline were beautiful, but she still wanted her real birthstone, peridot. I really understood, especially since she had never heard of tourmaline before our brief encounter.
This green oval with a bright clean medium green is eye clean and not dichroic. It can stand on its own merits, but would love to be a jester if I let it. It weighs 2.87 carats and I love its fresh clean air of spring grass.
Bruce
