12 facts about labradorite
- Labradorite derives its name from the peninsula of Labrador in Newfoundland, Canada, one of the places where it is found.
- Gemstone varieties of labradorite exhibiting a high degree of labradorescence are called spectrolite; moonstone and sunstone are also commonly used terms, and high-quality samples with good qualities are desired for jewelry.
- After a new source was found in Finland in the forties, labradorite was introduced in the gem market under the name spectrolite.
- In it's massive form the stone often shows a play of colors which may include white, gray, green, bluish, reddish or yellow. Crystalline Labradorite may be colorless.
- Labradorite is sometimes called rainbow moonstone.
- New Age devotees report that wearing labradorite promotes psychic and other communication abilities. Also said to enhance a persons will power.
- Like moonstone, this white to dark gray stone, exhibits a colored effect. But, unlike moonstone, this effect called labradorescence is visible only when rotated at an angle, and appears through the entire surface of the stone.
- Labradorite is known as a powerful sleep aid.
- Labradorescence is caused by light interference through the thin plates resulting from repeated twinning, characteristic to the structure of labradorite.
- Finnish labradorite was sometimes buried in fields as an offering to the powerful spirits of the land.
- Large slabs of low quality labradorite are used as facing material in construction building.
- Labradorite occasionally occurs in transparent pale yellow color, but this collector material is fragile and does not show labradorescence.
