Feldspar - The Phenomena Gemstone Family: Amazonite, Labradorite, Moonstone, Sunstone, and More

Spectrolite-Labradorite

Do you like stones that are out of the ordinary?  If you do, then you want to check out the various members of the feldspar mineral family.  Feldspar can be easily found many places but it has aspects that make it outstanding.  Many are used by jewelry designers to create unique jewelry.  As these can be found in large stones, the most popular in jewelry are: amazonite, labradorite, moonstone, and sunstone.  More rare feldspars that also occasionally can be found in more expensive jewelry: pieces include: andesine, bytownite, orthoclase, and perthite.

Andesine (AKA Red Labradorite) is a transparent stone that comes in colors yellow to orange to red.

Bytownite (AKA Yellow or Champaign Labradorite) is a clear to yellow to light brown transparent to translucent stone.

Amazonite comes in blues and greens and was named after the Amazon River.  It often contains a striped matrix that makes it popular opaque stone in jewelry.

Labradorite often has an blue, green, or yellow iridescence  inside the stone called labradorescence.  Wjhen the labradorescenc is not reflecting, labradorite can look like a dull grey or black stone.  Spectrolite is the most sought after version of this stone.

Moonstone typically has a blue schiller, called adularescence and the rainbow version can show multiple colors depending on how the stone catches the light.  The basic stone has a transparent clear or white look when the shiller is not reflecting.

Orthoclase is a clear to yellowish stone similar to Bytownite and often called by the same common names.

Perthite contains chatoyancy (or a cats-eye effect) and it can look similar to amazonite but it can be pink and yellow, as well as blue and green.

Sunstone has a golden glitter or aventurescence that makes it look spectacular in jewelry.  Without the glitter is would be a clear or yellowish translucent or transparent stone.  Some people mistake the manmade rust-colored opaque goldstone with this stone, they may be complementary but are not the same.