Lot: 2-3" Rough, Unpolished Labradorite - 10kg

This is a wholesale lot of 10 kg (22 pounds) unpolished Labradorite. These pieces of labradorite are all about 2" wide. Even though the labradorite is not polished doesn't mean is doesn't have great color. The easiest way to see the the colors in these pieces is to get them wet. The photos taken of the lot are dry and with give off better color polished or tumbled. At the wholesale price of $175, this lot comes out to $8 a pound. For this wholesale price, these pieces polished could retail several times the wholesale cost.

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.
SOLD
DETAILS
SPECIES
Labradorite
LOCATION
Madagascar
SIZE
2" wide, 22 pounds total
CATEGORY
ITEM
#78013