Labradorite is a variety of Feldspar, and at first that probably doesn't sound particularly exciting. Feldspar is one of the most common mineral groups on Earth, making up more than half of the Earth's crust. Labradorite, however, has a rather impressive trick that makes it considerably more interesting than its humble beginnings might suggest.
That trick is labradorescence.
A piece of Labradorite can be grey, dark grey or almost black, then suddenly flash with blue, green, yellow, gold, orange, violet or even several colours at once. The colour isn't actually sitting on the surface of the stone. It comes from the way light interacts with incredibly thin layers within the Feldspar itself. As Labradorite formed and cooled, its chemistry separated into microscopic layers of slightly different Feldspar compositions. When light reaches those layers, it is reflected and diffracted in particular ways, producing the flashes of colour we see. Change the angle of the stone or the light and the colours can change too.
And this is where things get interesting, because not all Labradorite has that famous flash. The right composition and geological conditions are needed for the internal layering to develop. Some pieces are relatively plain, while others have incredibly strong labradorescence. The darkness of the stone can also affect how that colour appears, which is one reason some Labradorite can look almost black until the light catches it.
The name Labradorite comes from Labrador, Canada, where the mineral was first recognised in 1770.
A Moravian missionary in the Nain area was given a piece of brightly coloured local rock and recognised its potential as a decorative material. The Moravian missionaries had arrived in the region during a period of European exploration and established their first permanent mission at Nain the following year.
Labradorite has a Mohs hardness of around 6, making it softer than Quartz but still suitable for jewellery, carvings and decorative objects. The Nain area has produced some impressively large material, with geological surveys recording crystals reaching around 50 centimetres across, and colours including blue, green, yellow, bronze, purple and red. Labradorite from the region has also been quarried for decorative stone and used by local craftspeople.
Then there is Spectrolite, which is where things can get a little confusing. Spectrolite isn't a completely different mineral. It is Labradorite, specifically a name strongly associated with particularly colourful material from Finland. In other words, if you hold a piece of Finnish Spectrolite and a piece of Labradorite from Labrador, you're not holding two unrelated minerals. They're both Labradorite, but their appearance and locality are different.
Polished Freeform of Finnish Spectrolite
Spectrolite became known from the Ylämaa area of southeastern Finland, where exceptionally colourful Labradorite was found during the 1940s. The material became particularly prized because of the intensity and range of its labradorescence. The name itself comes from the spectrum of colours it can display, and Finnish Spectrolite can show blue, green, yellow, orange, red, violet and other colours across the same piece. GIA describes it as a trade name for Finnish Labradorite and notes that its nearly black body colour can make the flashes appear particularly strongly at the surface.
This is probably the easiest way to think about the difference: Labradorite is the mineral, while Spectrolite is a trade name used for a particularly colourful type of Labradorite, especially material from Finland.
Rough Finnish Spectrolite
Labradorite from other parts of the world can also be spectacular, of course, and the boundaries around the name Spectrolite have become a little blurry in the gemstone trade over time. So if you see something labelled Spectrolite, it is worth knowing that you're not looking at a completely different mineral species. You're looking at Labradorite with a rather impressive reputation for colour.
And the Finnish material has an interesting story of its own. The deposits at Ylämaa were discovered while fortification work was being carried out during the Second World War. Pekka Laitakari, the son of Finnish geologist Aarne Laitakari, noticed the colourful Feldspar in rocks being excavated for the Salpalinja defensive line in 1940. His father had already spent years looking for the source of Labradorite boulders found elsewhere in southeastern Finland, so the discovery turned out to be rather more significant than anyone working on the fortifications probably expected.
Commercial mining and cutting of Finnish Spectrolite developed after the war, and the material became an important Finnish gemstone. Today it is particularly valued for jewellery and decorative pieces because of its strong colour display.
Labradorite is generally cut as a cabochon, rather than heavily faceted. A smooth, curved surface allows the flashes to spread across the stone as it moves, which is rather the point when the stone's best feature is something that changes with the light. It is also used for carvings and larger decorative pieces. The Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History has a carved Labradorite piece from Newfoundland weighing 810.70 carats, dating to a collection acquired in 1888.
The Smithsonian's carved Labradorite from Newfoundland
Labradorite has a few other interesting connections within the Feldspar family. Most Oregon Sunstone, for example, is Labradorite, although its appearance and optical effects can be quite different from the dark, flashing Labradorite most of us picture. There is also material sold as “Rainbow Moonstone” that is actually a transparent, white form of Labradorite rather than true Moonstone. Gemmology has a long history of names getting a little tangled, particularly when a pretty stone catches people's attention before anyone agrees on what to call it.
Oregon Sunstone Labradorite
Rainbow Moonstone
In modern crystal and spiritual practices, Labradorite is commonly associated with transformation, intuition, protection and spiritual awareness. It is often connected with the Third Eye and Crown Chakras and used during meditation, energy work and periods of personal change. Some practitioners also use Labradorite as a symbolic boundary stone, particularly when working with ideas around protecting their energy or not taking on everyone else's stuff.
Its modern reputation for transformation is particularly easy to understand when you look at the stone itself. Labradorite can appear completely different depending on how you hold it. One moment it is dark and understated, and the next it is throwing blue or green light across the room. That changing appearance has made it a natural symbol in modern spiritual practice for looking beyond what is immediately visible and being open to change.
There is also something quite satisfying about the fact that all of that colour comes from something you can't see with your naked eye. The flashes aren't painted onto the stone or sitting there as obvious coloured patches. They're the result of microscopic structures formed deep within the mineral as it cooled.
So the next time you pick up a piece of Labradorite and wonder why it looks completely different from the last piece you saw, that's part of the fun. Some are dark and subtle. Some flash blue. Some throw green and gold. Some seem determined to squeeze half the rainbow into one little stone.
You just have to find the right angle.
