Peridot Crystal Pakistan

Few peridot localities can match the glowing, electric lime green of crystals from the high mountains of Sapat Valley in Pakistan, and this one holds the light like a lantern. Its glassy, sculpted faces rise from dark host rock, a rare combination of gem quality color and natural form. Read more below to discover how this beautiful crystal formed in the Earth as well as the metaphysical qualities of the stone. The crystal was displayed with “thumb tack” putty for photography ... the same stuff that your 4th grade teacher stuck papers to the wall with. There is no trace of the non toxic putty left on the crystal when it ships to you. Authenticity guaranteed.

Weight: 114 grams
Dimensions: 51 x 38 mm (2 x 1.5 inches)
Locality: Sapat Valley, Kohistan, Pakistan

🌏 Geology of Peridot from Sapat Valley, Kohistan, Pakistan.

The peridot of Sapat Valley begins its story deep in the Earth’s mantle, since peridot is the gem form of olivine, the most abundant mineral in the upper mantle. In northern Pakistan the rocks that hold it belong to the Kohistan arc, an ancient chain of volcanic islands that formed in an ocean and was later squeezed between the Indian and Asian plates during the collision that raised the Himalaya. Slices of that deep ultramafic material were pushed up and exposed along the great thrust zones that mark the suture, and over time the magnesium rich rock was altered by hot, water bearing fluids moving through cracks and cavities in a process geologists call serpentinization. As far as I know it is within these open spaces, in a chemical environment rich in magnesium and iron, that the gem quality crystals were able to grow slowly and cleanly, with a small amount of iron giving them their signature green and trace elements such as nickel and chromium adding to the depth of color. The dark minerals clinging to this specimen are part of the story, because they grew alongside the peridot in the same changing mix of fluids and rock. Sapat peridot was first found in the mid 1990s at roughly four thousand meters above sea level, and it is known for crystals of unusual size and clarity compared with peridot from most other places in the world. Because deposits sit so high in the mountains, mining is generally limited to the short summer window before snow closes the access routes, which is part of why exceptional crystals like this one are never produced in large numbers.