Labradorite

At first glance, labradorite looks like a plain gray stone—until you tilt it toward the light.

Then it suddenly bursts into iridescent flashes of blue, green, gold, and violet—like the aurora borealis captured in stone.

The effect, called labradorescence, comes from microscopic layers within the stone that diffract light.

It is a variety of plagioclase feldspar, related to moonstone.

It was identified in 1770 by missionaries on the coast of the Labrador Peninsula in Canada—hence the name.

An Inuit legend says the Northern Lights were once trapped in the shoreline rocks until a warrior freed them with his spear, and what remained became labradorite’s glow.

The most spectacular variety, spectrolite, with flashes across the full spectrum, is found only in Finland—discovered in 1940 during the construction of fortifications.

On a gray-to-black base, flashes of blue, green, gold, and sometimes red ignite. It comes from Canada, Finland, and Madagascar.

Associated with intuition, transformation, and protection, labradorite is considered a mystical stone.

With a hardness of 6–6,5, it’s relatively sensitive to knocks and scratches, so handle it with care when wearing.

Clean with a soft cloth. This almost magical effect is beautifully showcased in 925 silver.