Labradorite is a Feldspar mineral boasting a diverse spectrum of colour thanks to their varying chemical composition of calcium and sodium. The name derives from where the first specimens were discovered – within the Labrador Peninsula, Canada – but fine examples of this mineral can be found most notably in Madagascar, China, and the United States.

First coined by Ove Balthasar Bøggild in 1924, ‘Labradorescence’ was the reflection of light across multiple directional planes, which cannot be viewed from a single angle nor under a microscope. Whether in free-form, sliced or spherical form, polished Labradorite under the right light conditions reveals a beautiful array of iridescence including blues, yellows, silvers and greens. When a specimen exhibits a richer and even rainbow-coloured iridescence (an even rarer occurrence almost exclusively mined in Finland), the mineral is then classed as a Spectrolite.

The colouration of Labradorite was considered so mesmerising in Native American and Inuit traditions that it was perceived to be the petrified fire produced by the Northern Lights (aurora borealis). Now known to have gradually formed from crystallised veins of magma, such specimens are still renowned to this day for their free-form shapes and extremely decorative hues.

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE
Bøggild, O.B., ‘On the Labradorization of the Feldspars’, Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab, Mathematisk-fysiske Meddelelelser, Series 6, Vol.3 (1924), pp.1–79.