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labradorite - aurora borealis
Sometimes described as looking like "gasoline laying on water," labradorite's colors have also been likened to the delicate wings of a tropical butterfly.
Another term for labradorite's iridescent color is schiller , defined as "the form of iridescence in a stone caused by the intergrowth of two different types of feldspar, with different refractive indexes."
Declared Labrador's mineral emblem in 1975, labradorite is one of about 20 semiprecious stones found in the province.
Small blue iridescent crystals of labradorite can be picked up along the beaches of Labrador's John Hayes Harbor.
On a clear sunny day, Labrador's Kiglapaits (Saw Tooth Moutains) north of Nain, which can be seen from some distance, display their jagged peaks and shiny plates of iridescent rock, some of which is labradorite.
Approximately 400 miles off the east coast of Africa, Madagascar, nicknamed "The Great Red Island" -- for its red-orange soil -- is the fourth largest island in the world.
 lovely labradorescence
Displaying a scintillating array of colors, labradorite is the generic name for a variety of feldspar. It is named after the location where it was first 'discovered,' near what is now the town of Nain, located on Labrador's far northwestern coast.

polished labradorite; nain, labrador

The result of ancient crystalline rocks formed deep in the earth's crust, labradorite is a fascinating mineral whose unique beauty can easily be overlooked if not viewed properly.
Often a dull, somewhat dark looking mineral at first glance (especially when dry or unpolished), seen at the right angle, a colorful schiller -- known as labradorescence -- can be observed in a play of light across cleavage planes and in sliced sections, flashing a soft array of metallic blues, greens, golds, and bronzes. Labrador's most famous gem has been described as:

"...a beautiful blue and bronze iridescent feldspar [that] polished, glistens in the sunlight like a peacock's feather; [its] color...is unique and beautiful.... Each time...[it] is turned to a different angle, a new splendor of gorgeous color is seen."

Mined sporadically since then (largely due to harsh economic conditions), most labradorite quarried in Labrador today is used architecturally as ornamental facing for buildings in the form of tiles and slabs.
Today, jewelry quality labradorite comes mostly from Madagascar (the Republic of Malagasy) -- a country which also has an iridescent "Madagascar feldspar" (alternately called "Madagascar spectrolite"), marketed as rainbow moonstone.
Madagascar's labradorite, mainly a dark gray variety, is just one of a huge number of precious, semi-precious, and ornamental gems mined in the Malagasy Republic. Despite labradorite's beauty, compared to Madagascar's rubies, sapphires and other precious gems, it's considered merely ornamental.
Spectrolite is the only Finnish stone that meets the three basic gem requirements: beauty, hardness and rarity.
Other members of the feldspar family are moonstone (adularia) and sunstone (also known as "adventurine feldspar").
Is spectrolite really is a higher quality stone than labradorite? The two stones can be nearly identical in quality and it just may be that Finland has just done a better job of marketing and differentiating its only semi-precious stone.
 spectacular spectrolite
Another labradorite with a beautiful play of colors is known as spectrolite, a trade name designating a high quality "gemmy" labradorite with a dark gray to black background mined in Finland and Russia. Spectrolite is said to demonstrate a wider range of colors than Labrador's product, displaying intense coppery reds and oranges, flashes of yellow, and shimmering blues and greens,.

polished finnish spectrolite

Finland's spectrolite mines are located 65 degrees north of the equator (about 10 degrees further north than Labrador's quarries), so far north that mining activities are limited to the only three months a year the ground isn't frozen solid.
The difference between spectrolite and labradorite lies in the color-range and the intensity of the fireplay: spectrolite is said to have stronger fuller colors against a dark background, while labradorite has softer shades of color with less intensity against a lighter background.

symbolic attributes

geographic
state mineral Newfoundland and Labrador (labradorite)
national gemFinland (spectrolite)
metaphysical
astrological gem Scorpio, Sagittarius and Leo
energy receptive / yin
element earth