Peach, gray, chocolate and golden-shine moonstone

Color in the body, moonlight moving under the surface.

Hold a strand up and tilt it. The peach beads warm from apricot to cream, the gray ones shift from smoke to silver, and a soft light seems to travel just under each polished face rather than sit on top of it. Chocolate and golden shine hold their color in the body, with the sheen crossing over the top of it. People reach for these because the glow moves when the wearer moves. Next to plain silver, the gray looks like weather.

Where it comes from

All four colors are orthoclase, the same potassium feldspar as the pale moonstone most people picture, with the formula (K,Na)AlSi3O8. As the mineral forms, orthoclase and albite separate into alternating layers thin enough that light falling between them scatters instead of passing through. GIA calls the result adularescence, light that appears to billow across a gem. Other feldspars, labradorite and sanidine among them, can show the same effect. Trace iron supplies the body color, which is what sets peach, gray, chocolate and golden shine apart from the colorless material. Nearly all of this rough comes out of India, and the colored cabochons that made the range familiar to buyers were cut from Indian stone. Its glow has held attention for centuries. Our strands are cut in Jaipur and chosen one strand at a time in Cupertino, California.

What tradition says

In Hindu mythology, moonstone is said to be made of solidified moonbeams, and many other cultures have tied the stone to moonlight for the same plain reason: the sheen looks like a full moon behind thin high cloud. Old legends hold that it brings good luck to the person carrying it. One belief said you could see what was coming if you held a moonstone in your mouth during a full moon. In crystal tradition it is kept as the stone of the moon and of calm, something to wear when you want a quieter mood. Moonstone is a birthstone for June, alongside pearl and alexandrite.

These are beliefs people have held about the stone, told as tradition. They are not claims, and not advice.

How makers use it

Designers working in neutrals and earth tones tend to start with peach, which suits bridal work, while the gray goes to minimalist silver pieces. Faceted pears and marquise are the shapes makers ask for most in earrings, and we keep them in 11x15mm and 10x14mm. Heishi is the bracelet shape. We list 57 strands across faceted, smooth and organic cuts, pears and marquise by the 8 inch strand, heishi by the 16. A better bead has clean body color and a sheen that travels as you turn it; flat beads with no movement sit at the bottom of the range.

Looking after it

Keep these to earrings and pendants. Two cleavage directions mean the beads chip under a knock, so we steer people away from rings. At 6 to 6.5 on the Mohs scale, they scratch more easily than quartz. Clean with warm soapy water and a soft cloth. No ultrasonic machine, no steam, no sudden heat.

Sources: What Is Moonstone Gemstone | Moonstone Stone – GIA, Moonstone History and Lore, Moonstone (gemstone), What Is Moonstone Gemstone | Moonstone Stone – GIA