4.4" Flashy Polished Labradorite Free Form - Madagascar

This is a flashy, labradorescent piece of labradorite that has been polished into a beautiful free form statue. The brilliant blue/green/orange colors have a lot of play in the light, giving the piece an entirely different personality when viewed in different angles and lighting. Portions of this specimen are composed of naturally associated rock that doesn't display the typical labradorescent effects.

Labradorite is a feldspar mineral most often found in mafic igneous rocks. Some specimens of labradorite exhibit what is called a "Schiller effect"; a strong play of iridescent blue, green, red, orange, and yellow colors. Labradorite is so well known for these spectacular displays of color that the phenomenon is also known as labradorescence. Specimens with high quality labradorescence are often polished and used as gemstones.

The labradorescence is not caused by the colors breflecting on the surface of the specimen. Instead, light enters the stone, hits a twinning crystal lattice surface within the stone, and reflects from that. The color seen is the color of light reflected from that twinning surface. Different twinning surfaces within the stone reflect different colors of light. Light reflecting from different twinning surfaces in various parts of the stone can give the stone a multi-colored appearance.

Labradorite is named after Labrador, Canada, where it was first found. Today, the most prolific deposits for most commercially available labradorite occur in Madagascar and Russia.
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DETAILS
SPECIES
Labradorite
LOCATION
Maniry, Madagascar
SIZE
4.4 x 3.2"
CATEGORY
ITEM
#136256