Round Labradorite Cabochon 33x6mm

33x6 mm round labradorite cabochon with intense blue labradorescence. The thin profile, circular format distributes the color flash over a wide surface. Mirror-polished flat back, ready for setting or wire wrapping.

Item Specifications

This Specific Piece

The 6 mm profile on a 33 mm diameter creates a disc with a floating appearance: low volume but large visual surface. In this cabochon, the main flash is electric blue (dominant) with green flashes towards one of the quadrants, suggesting that the exsolution layers are not perfectly horizontal with respect to the cutting axis, but slightly inclined. This slight deviation creates a color gradient that runs diagonally across the disc.

How Labradorescence Forms

Labradorite is a plagioclase feldspar that forms in mafic igneous rocks — gabbros, anorthosites — during the slow cooling of magma. As the mineral cools, alternating layers of albite (NaAlSi₃O₈) and anorthite (CaAl₂Si₂O₈) precipitate at the nanometer scale in an exsolution process. These lamellae, with a thickness less than the wavelength of visible light, act as an optical diffraction grating: constructive interference at certain wavelengths produces the colors of the spectrum, and the orientation of the lamellae determines which color dominates and from what angle it is visible. Finnish spectrolite — the highest quality variety — has particularly uniform lamellae that produce a complete rainbow; standard labradorite has dominance in the blue-green range of the spectrum.

Suitable Settings

• Medallion pendant in 925 silver bezel — the 33 mm disc is the classic size for.
• Handmade brooch — the flat round format fits perfectly into a brooch.
• Wire wrap — the flat back allows for a clean wrap; with wire.

Labradorite in Lapidary Tradition

First described in 1770 in Labrador (Canada), labradorite was already known and revered by the Inuit people before European mineralogists formally recorded it. An Inuit oral tradition states that the northern lights were trapped in rock when a warrior struck them with his spear, releasing some of that glow as the stone broke; the sparks that escaped became the visible auroras in the sky, and those that remained within the rock are the labradorescence. In crystal tradition, labradorite is associated with intuition, discernment, and the ability to see what is not immediately visible.

The symbolic properties attributed to minerals belong to cultural and historical traditions. They are shared for educational purposes, not as medical advice or a substitute for professional care.

How to Recognize Genuine Labradorite

Genuine labradorite has a dark gray or bluish-gray background with no inherent color; the color only appears with the flash. When the stone is moved away from the light, the flash completely disappears. Iridescent glass imitations show a superficial color pattern that does not disappear when the angle is changed and are lighter to the touch. Under magnification, real labradorite shows parallel cleavage lines (fine cracks running in the same direction), which glass imitations do not have. Quality labradorite shows the flash across the entire surface, not just in one area or spot.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the flash natural or a coating?

Labradorescence is 100% natural: it is a structural optical phenomenon produced by the internal layers of the mineral.

Can I wear it in a daily ring?

At 6–6.5 Mohs, it is harder than most colored minerals but softer than quartz.

Why does the color change with the angle?

Labradorescence is an optical interference phenomenon: the visible color depends on the angle of light incidence on.