This stunning gemstone is a natural Copper Dark Orange Labradorite with pure copper striations comes from the Spectrum mine in Oregon.
Imagine sheets of copper rain under champagne crystal. That's the appearance this gem gives. When viewed from different directions or tilted, the copper bands create mesmerizing, shifting patterns in several dimensions, an effect called aventurescense or schiller.
With a loupe or even just 5x magnification you can actually see the copper crystals or platelets in the bands. The rays of copper inclusions are a natural part of the gemstone and not graded as flaws. It's considered a similar phenomenon to rutilated quartz. This is a flawless stone.
Labradorite is an ancient gem, in fact these gems have been discovered in Viking burial mounds in Labrador. It was thought that the sunstone aided in navigation. Labradorite is the State Gem of Oregon, where it has been collected by Native Americans for centuries. While found all over the world, feldspar crystals are rarely gem grade. Only Harney County and Lake County Oregon (right), have crystal deposits of gem grade and large enough to facet for jewelry.
It is the copper and iron that that make Oregon Labradorite special. The bright copper platelets gave the name Heliolite, from the Greek helios for sun and lithos for stone. Varying amounts of copper cause the stones to range in color from water clear to yellow, as well as many shades of green, red and pink. Some stones contain from two to four of these colors, and some have pure native copper platelets that cause the stone to sparkle. This effect is called aventurescense or schiller.
