The short version: labradorite is a plagioclase feldspar famous for labradorescence — the blue-green-gold flash that slides across the stone as light scatters off microscopic internal layers. First described in Labrador, Canada; the Inuit told of it as frozen fire from the Aurora Borealis, fallen to earth. Here is the stone, its lore, and how it is used.
What it is
Labradorite is a feldspar (Mohs 6 to 6.5), grey at rest until the light catches it and the schiller flares — deep blue most often, sometimes green and gold. The flash is structural, not surface color: light interfering within fine lamellar layers grown into the crystal. The finest “spectrolite” comes from Finland.
The lore
Named for the Labrador coast where it was described in the 1770s, labradorite has long carried a reputation as a stone of imagination and the night sky — owed in part to the Inuit Aurora legend. It is a favorite among artists and collectors simply for the way it moves in the light.
How people use it
Worn as jewelry — a pendant or ring keeps the flash where you can catch it through the day. On a desk or shelf — a polished freeform shows the schiller from every angle. Kept by makers — writers and artists like it on the work table for the simple pleasure of a stone that changes as the light does.
Care
At Mohs 6 to 6.5 it is softer than quartz and can cleave; store it apart from harder stones and avoid hard knocks.
Shop our labradorite collection, or see it in person at one of our Sedona shops.