Today is Saint Patrick's Day, so I thought I'd talk about green gemstones. Sometimes, folks assume just because they have a green stone it's an emerald, but that's not always the case!
Of course, emerald is the most well-known green stone. It is usually a vibrant green, and due to the way they form, natural emeralds are full of inclusions. If you see an emerald that is completely clean to your eye, it's either really expensive or synthetic/lab-created.
Tsavorite (pretend the T isn't there, and you can pronounce it) garnet is another green stone that is a vibrant green. Named for Tsavo East National Park in Kenya, tsavorite is a stone found only in a few places in the world.
Tourmaline comes in almost any color you might want (and often combinations of colors like the crystal in this photo), including green. Ranging from bright to dark, you will often find tourmaline cut into emerald cuts or other elongated shapes.
Peridot ranges in color from a light yellow-green to bright, vivid slightly yellowish-green. With a color evocative of spring, peridot has been used as a gemstone for a very long time. Fun fact, some peridot came to earth via meteorite.
There are other green stones as well, but these are a good place to start. As always, please feel free to ask any questions you might have!
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