-
Silver Necklaces, Earrings & Gemstone Bead Bracelets
S925 Silver necklaces and silver earrings with silver bracelets including silver pendant necklaces and silver charms matching quartz and citrine gemstones.
YAN Blue Green Necklace Turquoise & Amazonite Long Necklace Style
Ocean - Turquoise - Blue
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Blue Pendant Necklace Amazonite & Chalcedony Long Necklace Style
Fresh - Amazonite - Blue
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Owl Pendant Necklace Moonstone & Rhodonite Long Necklace Style
Little Creatures - Rhodonite - Silver
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Black Crystal Necklace Obsidian & Tiger's Eye Long Necklace Style
Gothic - Obsidian - Black
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Black Pendant Necklace Obsidian & Agate Long Necklace Style
Oriental - Obsidian - Black
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN White Bead Necklace Obsidian & Moonstone Long Necklace Style
Elegance - Obsidian - Black
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Black Wood Necklace Sandalwood & Wingwood Long Necklace Style
Floral - Sandalwood - Black
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Black Bead Bracelet Obsidian & Amber Long Bracelet Style
Gothic - Obsidian - Black
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Blue Bead Bracelet Aquamarine & Quartz Long Bracelet Style
Ocean - Aquamarine - Blue
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Blue Bead Necklace Apatite & Moonstone Small Necklace Style
Ocean - Apatite - Blue
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Blue Crystal Bracelet Kyanite & Kunzite Long Bracelet Style
Ocean - Kyanite - Blue
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Blue Bead Necklace Cordierite & Tourmaline Short Necklace Style
Noble - Cordierite - Blue
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Blue Green Bracelet Turquoise & Amazonite Long Bracelet Style
Ocean - Turquoise - Blue
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Blue Pendant Necklace Lapis Lazuli & Agate Long Necklace Style
Vibrant - Lapis Lazuli - Blue
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Blue Pendant Necklace Aquamarine & Quartz Long Necklace Style
Ocean - Aquamarine - Blue
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Pink Blue Necklace Aquamarine & Quartz Long Necklace Style
Maiden's Heart - Aquamarine - Blue
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Wood Bead Bracelet Rosewood & Agate Long Bracelet Style
Forest - Rosewood - Brown
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Wood Bead Bracelet Wingwood & Sandalwood Long Bracelet Style
Vintage - Sandalwood - Brown
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Wood Pendant Bracelet Sandalwood & Wingwood Long Bracelet Style
Forest - Sandalwood - Brown
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Wood Pendant Necklace Rosewood & Agate Long Necklace Style
Forest - Rosewood - Brown
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Butterfly Pendant Bracelet Agate & Peitersite Long Bracelet Style
Little Creatures - Agate - Red
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Cat Paw Pendant Bracelet Moonstone & Rhodonite Long Bracelet Style
Little Creatures - Rhodonite - Silver
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Crystal Bead Bracelet Moonstone & Chalcedony Long Bracelet Style
Ocean - Moonstone - Silver
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Crystal Bead Necklace Moonstone & Rutilated Quartz Short Necklace Style
Elegance - Moonstone - Crystal
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Crystal Black Bracelet Quartz & Obsidian Small Bracelet Style
Gothic - Quartz - Black
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Crystal Black Necklace Obsidian & Quartz Small Necklace Style
Gothic - Obsidian - Black
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Crystal Black Necklace Quartz & Obsidian Long Necklace Style
Gothic - Obsidian - Crystal
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Crystal Bead Bracelet Quartz & Agate Small Bracelet Style
Pixie - Quartz - Crystal
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Crystal Green Necklace Quartz & Shell Long Necklace Style
Elegance - Quartz - Green
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Crystal Pendant Necklace Quartz & Agate Long Necklace Style
Pixie - Quartz - Crystal
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Crystal Pendant Necklace Moonstone & Chalcedony Long Necklace Style
Ocean - Moonstone - Silver
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Green Bead Bracelet Moonstone & Turquoise Long Bracelet Style
Little Creatures - Moonstone - Silver
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Green Bead Necklace Jade & Aventurine Bead Small Necklace Style
Little Creatures - Jade - Green
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Green Pendant Bracelet Prehnite & Quartz Long Bracelet Style
Fresh - Prehnite - Green
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Green Bead Necklace Jade & Aventurine Long Necklace Style
Forest - Jade - Green
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Green Bead Necklace Quartz & Agate Long Necklace Style
Forest - Quartz - Green
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Green Pendant Necklace Green Quartz & Chalcedony Long Necklace Style
Forest - Quartz - Green
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Jade Pendant Necklace Sandalwood & Bodhi Bead Long Necklace Style
Oriental - Sandalwood - Brown
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Natural Bead Bracelet Unakite & Aventurine Long Bracelet Style
Forest - Unakite - Green
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Chalcedony Pendant Necklace Bodhi Bead & Quartz Long Necklace Style
Rainbow - Bodhi Root - Multi Colour
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Natural Pendant Necklace Unakite & Aventurine Long Necklace Style
Forest - Unakite - Green
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Natural Bead Bracelet Bodhi Bead & Quartz Long Bracelet Style
Rainbow - Bodhi Root - Multi Colour
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Orange Bead Bracelet Sunstone Howlite Long Bracelet Style
Solar - Sunstone - Orange
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Orange Pendant Bracelet Quartz Small Bracelet Style
Little Creatures - Quartz - Orange
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Orange Pendant Necklace Chalcedony & Quartz Long Necklace Style
Little Creatures - Quartz - Orange
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Peach Necklace Agate & Aquamarine Long Necklace Style
Noble - Agate - Peach
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Peach Green Necklace Agate & Quartz Bead Long Necklace Style
Floral - Agate - Peach
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Pink Bracelet Rhodochrosite & Quartz Long Bracelet Style
Little Creatures - Rhodochrosite - Pink
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Pink Bracelet Agate & Quartz Long Bracelet Style
Floral - Agate - Pink
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Pink Necklace Agate & Rhodonite Short Necklace Style
Floral - Agate - Pink
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Pink Bracelet Crystal Quartz & S925 Silver Small Bracelet Style
Floral - Quartz - Pink
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Pink Crystal Bracelet Strawberry Quartz & Pink Quartz Long Bracelet Style
Elegance - Quartz - Pink
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Pink Crystal Necklace Jelly Agate & Citrine Long Necklace Style
Floral - Citrine - Yellow
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Pink Crystal Necklace Strawberry Quartz & Pink Quartz Long Necklace Style
Elegance - Quartz - Pink
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Pink Pendant Necklace Aventurine & Lapis Lazuli Long Necklace Style
Floral - Aventurine - Pink
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Pink Pendant Necklace Prehnite & Quartz Long Necklace Style
Fresh - Prehnite - Green
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Moonstone Pendant Necklace Amethyst & Quartz Short Necklace Style
Elegance - Amethyst - Purple
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Rose Pendant Bracelet Phantom Quartz & Citrine 925 Silver Flower Pendant Long Bracelet Style
Floral - Quartz - Purple
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Purple Amethyst Bracelet Black Rutilated Quartz & S925 Silver Long Bracelet Style
Floral - Amethyst - Purple
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Purple Crystal Bracelet Moonstone & Rutilated Quartz Small Bracelet Style
Elegance - Moonstone - Silver
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Purple Pendant Necklace Phosphosiderite & Chalcedony Long Necklace Style
Contrast - Phosphosiderite - Purple
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Silver Bird Pendant Bracelet Tourmaline & Quartz Long Bracelet Style
Little Creatures - Tourmaline - Multi Colour
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Silver Star Pendant Bracelet Quartz Crystal Long Bracelet Style
Candy - Quartz - Multi Colour
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Purple Bead Bracelet Tourmaline & Amethyst Short Necklace Style
Floral - Tourmaline - Multi Colour
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Red Bead Bracelet Garnet & Nephrite Long Bracelet Style
Vintage - Garnet - Red
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Red Bead Bracelet Agate & Obsidian Long Bracelet Style
Floral - Agate - Red
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Red Bead Necklace Agate & Obsidian Long Necklace Style
Floral - Agate - Red
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Red Bracelet Vermillion & Amber Jade Long Bracelet Style
Oriental - Vermilion - Red
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Red Necklace Vermillion & Amber Jade Short Necklace Style
Oriental - Vermilion - Red
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Red Pendant Necklace Garnet & Agate Long Necklace Style
Rainbow - Garnet - Red
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Red Pendant Necklace Garnet & Nephrite Long Necklace Style
Vintage - Garnet - Red
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Pink Pendant Necklace Garnet & Rhodonite Long Necklace Style
Canvas - Garnet - Red
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Silver Pendant Necklace Quartz & Amber Jade Long Necklace Style
Elegance - Quartz - Green
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN White Moonstone Bracelet Phosphosiderite & Obsidian Long Bracelet Style
Noble - Phosphosiderite - Purple
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN White Moonstone Necklace Phosphosiderite & Obsidian Long Necklace Style
Noble - Phosphosiderite - Purple
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Silver Flower Pendant Bracelet Beryl & Shell S925 Silver Small Bracelet Style
Floral - Beryl - White
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN White Pendant Necklace Moonstone & Agate Long Necklace Style
Snow Princess - Moonstone - White
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Black Pendant Bracelet Obsidian & Wingwood Long Bracelet Style
Oriental - Obsidian - Black
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Wood Black Bracelet Sandalwood & Wingwood Long Bracelet Style
Floral - Sandalwood - Black
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Wood Pendant Necklace Sandalwood & Wingwood Long Necklace Style
Forest - Sandalwood - Brown
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Wood Pendant Necklace Wingwood & Agate Long Necklace Style
Vintage - Sandalwood - Brown
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Yellow Crystal Bracelet Citrine & 925 Silver Flower Small Bracelet Style
Floral - Citrine - Yellow
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Pink Necklace Strawberry Quartz & Dragon Jade Long Necklace Style
Princess - Quartz - Pink
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Blue Teardrop Pendant Necklace Lapis Lazuli & Moonstone Long Necklace Style
Canvas - Lapis Lazuli - Blue
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Blue Earrings Lapis Lazuli & S925 Silver Dangle Earrings Style
Canvas - Lapis Lazuli - Blue
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Blue Necklace Aquamarine & Pearl Small Necklace Style
Ocean - Aquamarine - Blue
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Green Blue Bracelet Aquamarine & Strawberry Quartz Small Bracelet Style
Ocean - Aquamarine - Blue
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Silver Earrings Aquamarine & S925 Silver Flower Dangle Earrings Style
Ocean - Aquamarine - Blue
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Blue Pendant Necklace Lapis Lazuli & Chalcedony Long Necklace Style
Oriental - Lapis Lazuli - Blue
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Pink Necklace Kyanite & Strawberry Quartz Long Necklace Style
Princess - Kyanite - Blue
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Blue Bead Necklace Kyanite & Gold Jade Long Necklace Style
Little Creatures - Kyanite - Blue
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Silver Earrings Kyanite & S925 Silver Cloud Dangle Earrings Style
Little Creatures - Kyanite - Blue
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Black Earrings Obsidian, Pearl & S925 Silver Spiral Dangle Earrings Style
Gothic - Quartz - Black
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Black Pendant Necklace Obsidian & Pearl Long Necklace Style
Gothic - Obsidian - Black
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Black Earrings Obsidian & S925 Silver Butterfly Dangle Earrings Style
Little Creatures - Obsidian - Black
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Silver Earrings S925 Silver Tassle Dangle Earrings Style
Floral - Silver - Silver
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Black Bead Necklace Tourmaline & Amazonite Small Necklace Style
Floral - Tourmaline - Black
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Black Bead Bracelet Tourmaline & Amazonite Long Bracelet Style
Floral - Tourmaline - Black
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Green Pendant Necklace Agate & Quartz Long Necklace Style
Forest - Agate - Green
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Rainbow Bead Necklace Tourmaline & Quartz Small Necklace Style
Rainbow - Tourmaline - Multi Colour
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Green Silver Earrings Quartz & S925 Silver Orchid Dangle Earrings Style
Floral - Quartz - Green
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Blue Teardrop Pendant Necklace Nephrite & Aquamarine Long Necklace Style
Fresh - Nephrite - Green
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Green Earrings Nephrite & S925 Silver Lion Dangle Earrings Style
Fresh - Nephrite - Green
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Rainbow Bead Necklace Tourmaline & Quartz Short Necklace Style
Rainbow - Tourmaline - Multi Colour
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Rainbow Bead Necklace Jade & Lapis Lazuli Short Necklace Style
Rainbow - Jade - Multi Colour
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Rainbow Bead Bracelet Jade & Lapis Lazuli Long Bracelet Style
Rainbow - Jade - Multi Colour
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Rainbow Pendant Necklace Tourmaline & Agate Long Necklace Style
Rainbow - Tourmaline - Multi Colour
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Rainbow Star Pendant Necklace Tourmaline & Agate Small Necklace Style
Rainbow - Tourmaline - Multi Colour
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Rainbow Bead Necklace Tourmaline & Agate Small Necklace Style
Rainbow - Tourmaline - Multi Colour
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Rainbow Leaf Pendant Necklace Tourmaline & Quartz Small Necklace Style
Rainbow - Tourmaline - Multi Colour
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Rainbow Bead Pendant Bracelet Tourmaline & Quartz Long Bracelet Style
Rainbow - Tourmaline - Multi Colour
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Natural Pendant Necklace Opal & Agate Long Necklace Style
Pixie - Opal - Brown
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Silver Earrings Agate & S925 Silver Rose Dangle Earrings Style
Pixie - Agate - Peach
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Pink Earrings Aventurine & Lapis Lazuli S925 Silver Lotus Dangle Earrings Style
Floral - Aventurine - Pink
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Red Pendant Necklace Garnet & Pearl S925 Silver Peony Pendant Long Necklace Style
Floral - Garnet - Red
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Red Bracelet Garnet & S925 Silver Long Bracelet Style
Floral - Garnet - Red
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Silver Bead Earrings Garnet & Pearl S925 Silver Flower Dangle Earrings Style
Floral - Garnet - Red
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Silver Bead Necklace Moonstone & Agate Long Necklace Style
Night Ocean - Moonstone - Silver
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Silver Bead Bracelet Moonstone & Agate Long Bracelet Style
Night Ocean - Moonstone - Silver
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Silver Earrings Moonstone & S925 Silver Dangle Earrings Style
Night Ocean - Moonstone - Silver
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Silver Bead Necklace Moonstone & Obsidian Long Necklace Style
Gothic - Moonstone - Silver
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Black Bead Bracelet Moonstone & Obsidian Small Bracelet Style
Gothic - Moonstone - Silver
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Silver Earrings Citrine & S925 Silver Garland Dangle Earrings Style
Floral - Citrine - Yellow
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Purple Pendant Necklace Amethyst & Quartz Long Necklace Style
Princess - Amethyst - Purple
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Purple Bracelet Amethyst & Quartz Long Bracelet Style
Princess - Amethyst - Purple
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Blue Earrings Apatite & S925 Silver Flower Dangle Earrings Style
Princess - Apatite - Purple
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Purple Bead Necklace Tourmaline & Auralite Long Necklace Style
Lavender - Tourmaline - Purple
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN Purple Earrings Tourmaline S925 Silver Dangle Earrings Style
Lavender - Tourmaline - Purple
￡ TBA 🛍 YAN White Pendant Necklace Agate & Obsidian Long Necklace Style
Night Ocean - Agate - White
￡ TBA 🛍
Silver Necklaces, Earrings & Gemstone Bead Bracelets
Beautiful designer bracelets styled from natural gemstones, jade, S925 silver and gemstone pendant necklaces with new bohemian YAN designer jewellery fashion
YAN Blue Green Necklace Turquoise & Amazonite Long Necklace Style
Ocean - Turquoise - Blue
YAN Blue Bead Bracelet Aquamarine & Quartz Long Bracelet Style
Ocean - Aquamarine - Blue
YAN Blue Bead Necklace Apatite & Moonstone Small Necklace Style
Ocean - Apatite - Blue
YAN Blue Crystal Bracelet Kyanite & Kunzite Long Bracelet Style
Ocean - Kyanite - Blue
YAN Blue Green Bracelet Turquoise & Amazonite Long Bracelet Style
Ocean - Turquoise - Blue
YAN Blue Pendant Necklace Aquamarine & Quartz Long Necklace Style
Ocean - Aquamarine - Blue
YAN Crystal Bead Bracelet Moonstone & Chalcedony Long Bracelet Style
Ocean - Moonstone - Silver
YAN Crystal Pendant Necklace Moonstone & Chalcedony Long Necklace Style
Ocean - Moonstone - Silver
YAN Blue Necklace Aquamarine & Pearl Small Necklace Style
Ocean - Aquamarine - Blue
YAN Green Blue Bracelet Aquamarine & Strawberry Quartz Small Bracelet Style
Ocean - Aquamarine - Blue
YAN Silver Earrings Aquamarine & S925 Silver Flower Dangle Earrings Style
Ocean - Aquamarine - Blue
-
Moonstone Jewelry a Popular History
Moonstone jewelry designers believed this gemstone was moonlight frozen into crystal, once popular in art nouveau and ever fashionable as cabochon pendant necklaces and beautiful bead bracelets
Moonstone a gemstone that has been fashionable across the millennia for a play of light termed “Adularescence” – displaying as waves of lustred colour seemingly like moon rays dancing upon the surface of an enchanting ocean.
Finding a foothold in modern history within the art nouveau era, moonstone jewelry was adulated by designer René Lalique in naturalistic artwork and later adorned as a vessel to express connection to the spiritual world in the later “new age” movement of the late 20th century.
Moonstone is one of the most important gemstones of the feldspar group of silicate minerals, with opalescent shimmer, myriad colours and adorned as a deity stone with lunar connection since ancient Greeks likened it to trapped moon light over two thousand years ago.
Moonstone in Art Nouveau and New Age Fashion
Starting from the turn of the 20th century the Art Nouveau movement embraced natural forms with colourful design and curving free shape, casting away the rigour of previous traditionally staid styles.
René Lalique was a French designer who as apprentice goldsmith to the leading Art Novea artist of the time Louis Aucoc forged a deep connection to these visionary ideas of nature inspired design.
With flowing natural lines of delicate golden tracery he created numerous examples of tiaras, pendant necklaces and numerous other works many featuring moonstone that with it’s smooth cabochon lines and pearly iridescence acted as natural point of art nouveau style.
Moonstone jewelry shone once again on the global stage in the later “New Age” movement of the 1970’s.
With spiritualistic beliefs emphasising independence of soul and connection to a greater cosmos that transcended material existence, the new age movement in moonstone jewelry found natural plays of light and colour that integrated well within their a spiritual framework of contrasting light and energy.
Appearance of Moonstone
Presenting numerous colours from colourless to pale browns including blue, peach, pink and yellow, moonstone is highly light reflective and along with better known “adularescence” some specimens show a “cat’s eye” of banded light.
Adularescence otherwise known as a light “shimmer” is created from tiny nanometre layers of light changing structural differences that exist throughout the structure of the moonstone crystal.
Under the right lighting moonstone displays an impression of moon light rippled across an ocean surface that is created by changes in the path of light as it passes across these variations in the crystal structure.
Contemporarily sought after in art noveau and much later the new age period moonstone jewelry pieces, this “shimmer” of wave like light is mostly found producing a white rippled lustre, though can also be found in orange and blue lustre.
Modern moonstone’s currently most sought after examples are those close to examples which are highly reflective to light and exhibit a strong blue “flash” of adularescence visible from a range of angles when mounted as highly polished cabochon jewels.
Moonstone Jewelry in History
Known since ancient Greek times as the gemstone “Aphroselene” – a merger between the names of ancient Greek goddesses of love and the moon, moonstone was believed by philosophers of the Roman Empire to be drops of moonlight frozen into crystal.
Roman historian “Pliny the Elder” wrote of moonstone with it’s shimmer of wave like light as being connecting to the changing phases of the moon and this gemstone was associated to Roman and Greek lunar deities.
Moonstone jewelry is associated with the moon in Roman and Greek mythology, the goddess Selene was a Greek mythological figure, daughter of the Sun god Hyperion who represented the Moon as a silver chariot chasing across the sky.
Later deity Artemis whose temple at Ephesus is one the seven wonders of the ancient world also represented the Moon and is twin sister of Apollo.
Roman and Greek peoples associated moonstone with deities that represented the moon and though they were less frequently worshipped than household deities they could be worshipped anywhere in the world where the moon was visible.
Moonstone jewelry of these ancient times would likely consist of either natural stones polished to best show the pearly shimmer of adularescence or be ground into cabochons and set into precious metal setting pendants and rings.
Moonstone is still mined from the Alp mines of St. Gotthard in Switzerland where it has been found since ancient times with most deposits found across the world presenting with clear colour and visible blue lustre, while deposits in Indian are known for a multitude of different colours.
Moonstone Feldspar Family
Of the feldspar family moonstone is a silicate mineral comprised of a three dimensional repeating lattice of silicon and oxygen elements called a “tectosilicate“.
Feldspar is a large group of minerals whose members while sharing a common repeating structure differ in some of the elements that constitute it.
Orthoclase is a type of feldspar that has some oxygen elements interchanged with potassium and aluminium and is known as the primary mineral constituent of moonstone.
Found in most granite and forming large crystals in the chemically similar rock called pegmatite, orthoclase commonly crystallises into these rocks when cooling from igneous magma that is comprised of the right elements to form it.
In the process of cooling a wide variety of other feldspar minerals will form alongside the more common orthoclase and where sodium is present including sodium rich feldspar – albite.
Under the right conditions the two feldspar crystals will grow together forming a rarer mineral called “perthite”.
Moonstone is the gem quality crystal of this blend of two feldspar minerals, the residual microscopic differences between the two crystals slightly altering light through the crystal producing the famous shimmer – a magical light and historical marker of the unique process of formation of the moonstone.
Attributes of Moonstone
Though not naturally found in Florida moonstone is naturally the gemstone that represents this state that with the first manned missions of project Apollo launching from Kennedy Space Centre is so intimately connected to the Moon.
Moonstone is the birthstone for June and in metaphysical writings as with previous Greek and Roman beliefs is still entwined to the energy of the moon.
Jewelry grade gemstones are typically selected for the amount and quality of adularescence that is displayed, with deep coloured flashes that are visible from a range of viewable angles being most sought after if incorporated into pendant pieces.
Discovering the crystal axis that best exhibits adularescence and then forming a cabochon from a solid crystal whose shape will show off the effect is one of the hardest parts for designers who shape moonstones.
Blue lustred moonstone is one of the more sought after varieties, though many different coloured lustre and body colour also naturally found.
Along with bright moonlight like shimmer some moonstone examples carry an effect of “cat’s eye” chatoyancy occuring where parallel inclusions in the crystal preferentially reflect light in one direction, forming a bright band of light similar to a cat’s eye.
Moonstone also possess a wide natural body colour range that in our jewelry allows matching to many colours of different gemstones, with single colours from black to grey and white and more colourful varieties from yellow to brown and blue to green being found.
Contemporary Fashion and Moonstone Jewelry
The moonlight like opalescence of moonstone is naturally suited to silver and other cool colours when mounted in precious metals.
Present market jewelry will often set rounded cabochons that best show a wide angle of reflective shimmer into pendant necklaces with minimalist detail to show the stand out natural beauty of the gemstone.
Flowing from the naturally rounded curves of a cabochon pendant some examples of modern jewelry can be found to still preserve the now classic art nouveau style of flowing lines and floral shaping.
Our perspective upon moonstone jewelry is that the most important design element is the lustre of the gemstone.
With colourful reflective lustre varying from deeper purple to light yellow and blue, and actual gemstone body tones all the way from white to black and grey and varied rainbow colours in between moonstone is an incredible palette for a designer.
We use the best points of the moonstone to create fashion styles which are both mysterious and carry a fashionable look with the new modern style as basis for design.
From the meaning of the name “moonstone” most of our work tries to create an atmosphere that carries the meaning of the moon’s appearance in the sky, in one of our ocean concept pieces we use blue apatite and blue lustred grey moonstone to describe the theme, giving you a picture of the moon at night reflected in the surface of a tranquil ocean.
Moonstone has always carried an otherworldly air of mystery within the pearlescent shimmer that plays within light reflected from this beautiful gemstone, from ancient Roman scholars to modern lovers of colourful fashion, moonstone jewelry projects a magical air seemingly carried down from our lunar companion.