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The Moonstone is an alternative birthstone for
the month of June.
Moonstone almost seems magical with a ghostly
shimmering glow floating in a crystalline material.
The Romans thought that moonstone was formed out
of moonlight. Moonstone is a variety of feldspar and the
shimmer, which is called schiller or adularescence, is
caused by the intergrowth of two different types of feldspar,
with different refractive indexes.
In Europe, moonstone is considered the birthstone for June,
although in the United States it shares that distinction with
alexandrite and pearl.
Moonstones come in a variety of colors. The body color can
range from colorless to gray, brown, yellow, green, or pink.
The clarity ranges from transparent to translucent. The best
moonstone has a blue sheen, perfect clarity, and a colorless
body color.
Sometimes moonstone will have an eye as well as a sheen.
Another related feldspar variety is known as rainbow
moonstone. In this variety of labradorite feldspar, the sheen
is a variety of rainbow hues. Fine moonstone is quite rare
and becoming rarer. It is mined in Sri Lanka and Southen
India. The rainbow variety can also be found in Madagascar.
Moonstones are usually cut in a smooth-domed cabochon
shape to maximize the effect. Sometimes they are carved
to show a man-in-the-moon face. Moonstone beads also
display the sheen very well and are simply stunning against
a black dress.
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