Moonstones: are a translucent blueish-white colour and belong to the feldspar family, which also includes labradorite and amazonite. Of these three the best know feldspar is moonstone which is most used in jewellery. Better quality moonstones are a bluish colour, with a fine silvery sheen called adularescence, while poor quality stones are adull, dirty grey with yellowish tinges and are almost transparent. Moonstones were popular at the end of the last century and were used in art noveau jewellery in conjunction with garnets, turquoisess, fire opal and enamles e.t.c

Highest quality moonstones sold by us you can see their fantastic blueish adularescence

Labrodorite: A greyish feldspar with iridescent flashes of greens and blues reflected from within the stone. It has the effect of butterflies' wings. It was used in art nouveau and art deco period jewellery and first came from the coast of Labrador, hence its name.

Amazonite is rarely used in jewellery

The major source, as for so many gemstones, is Sril Lanka, although moonstones also come from madagascar, Burma, India and Tanzania. The madagascan moonstones have a tendency to be golden yellow, as have Burmese stones which also show cat's eye effect, but not as strongly as the chrysoberyl cat's eye. They are always cut en cabachon to show their adularescence

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