• Class : Silicates
• Subclass : Tectosilicates
• Group : Feldspar

• Hardness : 6 - 6.5
• Transparency : Translucent to transparent
• Crystal system : Triclinic
• Cleavage : Perfect in one and good in another direction, forming nearly right angled prisms
• Streak : White

Labradorite was first found in the Labrador peninsula, and brought to Europe around the year 1770. It occurs together with hypersthene, in a coarse-grained granite gneiss. From these it is sometime weathered out by wave and atmospheric action, and occurs as beach pebbles. It is also mined from veins. Labradorite found in Quebec is darker and more opaque than the one from Labrador. A variety of labradorite known as Spectrolite is also found in Finland.

 

Labradorite shows an iridescent display of colors due to inclusions of other mineral. The most common colors shown by the labradorite are blue and green, but yellow and red might also be seen. The color dance seen in labradorite is not like that of the opal, which presents to the eye fragments of different colors varying in different positions, but appears as broad surfaces of a single color. Iridescent colors in hummingbird feathers and the wings of Morpho butterflies are physically similar phenomena.

 

Hummingbird feathers

Morpho butterfly

 

NATIVE NAME ORIGIN

According to an Eskimo legend, Northern Lights were once imprisoned in the rocks along the labrador coast. A wandering Eskimo warrior found them and hit them with his spear. Most of the Northern Light were released but some remained trapped in the rocks, creating the beautiful Labradorite we have today.