Rainbow Moonstone Crystal Bracelet

Rainbow moonstone is a feldspar - a near-transparent white labradorite, close kin to the orthoclase moonstone, named for the floating light it shares. That light is adularescence: a blue, sometimes rainbow, sheen that drifts across the stone as it moves.

The sheen scatters from microscopic layers within the feldspar; here the body is clear to milky white and the float reads vivid blue, occasionally breaking into a fuller spectrum, which is the "rainbow" of the name. Mohs 6 to 6.5.

A feldspar like amazonite, sunstone, and orthoclase moonstone: it parts along cleavage planes, so the beads are spared hard knocks. The colour is all optical - clear stone, floating light, no pigment.

Asked often

What makes the blue and rainbow flash?
Adularescence - light scattering between microscopic layers inside the feldspar, returning as a floating sheen. Here it reads vivid blue, sometimes breaking into a fuller spectrum, the "rainbow" of the name.

Is it the same as moonstone?
Close kin. Classic moonstone is orthoclase feldspar with a milky body; rainbow moonstone is a clearer labradorite with a stronger blue-to-rainbow float. Both are feldspars named for their moonlike light.

Is the colour natural?
Yes - it is an optical effect of the stone’s layered structure, not a dye or coating. The body is naturally clear to white, and the floating light is the feldspar’s own.

How do I care for it?
Wipe with a soft, slightly damp cloth and dry. As a feldspar it parts along cleavage - spare the beads hard knocks - and keep the cord dry.

1. Worn on either wrist, over the hand, on a durable elastic cord.
2. Tilt it slowly in the light - the blue, sometimes rainbow, float drifts across the stone.
3. Wipe with a soft, slightly damp cloth and dry.
4. As a feldspar it parts along cleavage planes - spare the beads hard knocks on stone, metal, or tile.

Many traditions rinse or air their stones from time to time; that is a matter of preference, and the rest is yours.

The elastic cord lasts longest kept dry - remove before swimming, bathing, or applying scent. Do not soak.

• Stone: Rainbow moonstone · white labradorite
• Composition: Plagioclase feldspar
• Hardness: Mohs 6–6.5
• Character: Clear-white with blue to rainbow adularescence
• Treatment: None · untreated
• Band: Durable elastic cord
• Origin: India
• Care: Wipe with a soft cloth · spare hard knocks

Labradorite was first described from the coast of Labrador in Canada in the eighteenth century, named for the place its flashing light was first studied; the clear, blue-sheened material called rainbow moonstone comes chiefly from India and Madagascar. It joined the orthoclase moonstone in the jewellery of the Art Nouveau era, prized for the same floating glow.

For its moonlike, shifting light the stone was read as a companion to night and to change across many cultures - named here as what people believed. The float is structure and light; what it calls to mind is the wearer’s.