Finnish Spectrolite 925 Sterling Silver Pendant – WWII Discovery | Hand Cut by Geologist Ben Davis

There are a handful of stones Ben gets excited about every time he sees them, and Finnish spectrolite is one of them. He always hits up the same Finnish vendor when we go to the Tucson Gem and Mineral show, and he kinda freaked the year our guy wasn't there (he's older, and Ben likes buying from the smaller guys actually in the country), but this one does have a VERY cool history. 

Honestly, the rough doesn't usually look like much. Most pieces are nearly black, almost like obsidian, with no hint of what's inside. Then the saw makes its first cut, and the color appears. Blues, greens, golds, and flashes of other colors seem to come from deep within the stone. Even after years of cutting rock, that moment never gets old.

Spectrolite is the finest variety of labradorite and is found almost exclusively in Finland. Its story is as fascinating as the stone itself. A Finnish geologist first described it in the late 1800s and spent much of his life searching for its source. It wasn't until World War II that his son, Pekka, uncovered the famous deposit while digging defensive trenches. His son got VERY excited, went home, and bought up the land. After the war, spectrolite became an important part of Finland's gemstone industry and is now recognized as the country's national gemstone.

The brilliant flashes of color come from microscopic layers inside the feldspar crystal that bend and reflect light, an optical effect called labradorescence. Finnish folklore says spectrolite holds the colors of the aurora borealis within the stone. 

• Genuine Finnish Spectrolite
• Hand cut by geologist Ben Davis
• Set in solid .925 sterling silver
• One-of-a-kind natural gemstone