Rainbow moonstone is a feldspar, and the glow that gives it its name is called adularescence: a soft blue light that seems to float just under the surface and moves as the stone moves. In practice it is the stone of intuition, new beginnings and the lunar cycle, worn by people who keep time by the moon. It is one of the stones this studio returns to most, and it has a few quirks worth knowing before you wear one every day.
What rainbow moonstone is, and where the glow comes from
Moonstone belongs to the feldspar family, the most common group of minerals in the earth's crust. Inside a moonstone, thin layers of feldspar alternate like pages. Light entering the stone scatters between those layers and comes back as a glow rather than a sparkle. That glow is adularescence, named for the Adula mountains of Switzerland, an old source of the stone, and it is the same trick labradorite plays with its flash.
"Rainbow" is a trade name and a slightly misleading one. A rainbow moonstone is a near-colorless, often slightly milky stone whose flash is mainly blue, with hints of other colors at some angles. The name describes the blue against the pale body, and when a stone is good, the blue is electric.
A gemologist will also tell you that most of what is sold as rainbow moonstone is technically a transparent variety of labradorite rather than the classic orthoclase moonstone. In this studio that makes it a sister to our other favorite feldspar, the gray labradorite with the hidden flash, and once you know they are related you can see it: the same light-under-the-surface trick, one wearing white and one wearing storm cloud.
Like all feldspars it is softer than quartz, around six to six and a half on the Mohs scale, and it has cleavage, meaning it can split along internal planes if it takes a hard knock at the wrong angle. It is the reason for the care section below.
What it is worn for
Moonstone has belonged to the moon for as long as anyone has written about it. An old story, usually traced to the Roman naturalist Pliny, holds that the stone's glow waxed and waned with the moon itself. It does not, but hold one under a lamp and tilt it and you will see why people thought so.
In practice rainbow moonstone is worn for three things. Intuition first: it is the stone of the inner voice, the one you reach for when you need to trust what you already know. New beginnings second: it is a new moon stone, the one for starting over, for the first step, for anything you are growing from a seed. And the cycle itself third: moonstone is worn by people who honor that feelings rise and fall, that nothing is full forever and nothing is dark forever either.
It is a gentle stone. Where onyx holds the ground and labradorite shows you what is hidden, moonstone sits with you. We recommend it to anyone starting a lunar practice and to anyone who finds the dark stones too heavy and wants something that glows instead.
Traditionally it is also a stone of the divine feminine and of the goddesses who rule the moon, which is why it sits at the center of so many of our goddess pieces.
People also ask whether moonstone is a June birthstone. It is. On the modern birthstone list, June has three stones, pearl, alexandrite and moonstone, and moonstone is the one of the three you can hold up to the light and watch move. If you were born in June and have never loved a pearl, this is your way out.
Rainbow moonstone and the lunar cycle
Wear it whenever you like. If you want to work with the cycle:
- New moon: put it on with one intention for the month. Today, Monday, November 9, is the new moon in Scorpio.
- Waxing moon: wear it daily while the intention grows.
- Full moon: set it in the window overnight to cleanse and charge it. Moonlight is the classic for this stone, for the obvious reason. The next full moon is the Beaver Moon on November 24.
- Waning moon: wear it when you need to let something go softly.
In the studio
I set rainbow moonstone whenever a piece is about the moon or about the goddess who rules her. The Vela Ring is the simplest version: a rainbow moonstone in sterling silver, slim enough to stack, built as a daily anchor to lunar rhythm. The Nimue Necklace pairs it with clear quartz, because the quartz amplifies and the moonstone intuits, and together they make a pendant for the woman who trusts the patterns she cannot yet prove.
Every stone is chosen before the metal is designed. With moonstone that means I pick the stone for its flash first, turning each one under the light until the blue shows, and then carve the wax around it so the setting protects the edges. A stone this soft needs a bezel that does some of the work.
Browse the rainbow moonstone collection for the rings, necklaces and earrings we have built around the glow.
How to care for rainbow moonstone
This is the section to actually read.
- Take it off for anything rough: the gym, gardening, moving furniture, dishes. A hard knock on an edge is the one thing that can damage it.
- Put it on last and take it off first. Lotion, perfume and hairspray dull the surface over time; let them dry before the ring goes on.
- Clean it with warm water, a drop of mild soap and a soft cloth or brush. Dry it fully.
- No ultrasonic cleaners, no steam, no harsh chemicals.
- Store it in its own pouch or compartment, away from quartz, which is harder and will scratch it.
- Moonlight is fine for charging. Long hours of hot direct sun are not necessary, and heat is never a friend to a stone with cleavage.
Questions we get about rainbow moonstone
What is the difference between moonstone and rainbow moonstone? Both are feldspars with adularescence, the floating glow. Classic moonstone is usually an orthoclase feldspar and can be white, peach, gray or nearly colorless, with a soft white-to-blue sheen. Rainbow moonstone is near-colorless to milky with a stronger blue flash, and most of it is technically a transparent labradorite. In the studio we set rainbow moonstone for its blue.
Can I wear moonstone every day? Yes, with a little care. It is softer than quartz and can chip on a hard knock, so take it off for rough work, keep it away from harder stones in storage, and clean it gently. A protective setting helps; ours are carved so the metal takes the edge of the wear.
Is moonstone good for new beginnings? In practice it is the stone most often worn for exactly that: new moons, new chapters, first steps. It is worn for intuition and for trusting the cycle, which is what a beginning asks of you. Put it on at the new moon with one intention and wear it until the moon is full.
She glows because of what is layered inside her, not because of anything on the surface. Wear her that way.
From the studio
The pieces we have built around the glow, from a single stacker to a double stone.
- Vela Ring: a rainbow moonstone in sterling silver, slim enough to stack
- Nimue Necklace: rainbow moonstone and clear quartz in sterling, from Lady of the Lake
- Morgana Dangle Earrings: aquamarine and rainbow moonstone dangles
- Intuitive Necklace- Double Rainbow Moonstone: two rainbow moonstones, a one-of-a-kind
