Moonstones in India

[pregcurious]

I am a big fan of moonstones, but am having a hard time finding clean ones with a blue schiller online. (I have a budding collection of 3 small stones.) My husband is going to Hyderabad, India on a business trip, and I was wondering, does anyone know of a reputable jewelry store that sells loose moonstones there? I know it's a long shot, but I would be a great souvenir for him to bring back.

Thanks,
Preg

 

[billyboo]

Moonstones are actually quite common stones. You should be able to find some fairly easily I would think. I do know India does produce quite a bit of moonstone but I am not sure of the quality.

 

[morecarats]

I am a big fan of moonstones, but am having a hard time finding clean ones with a blue schiller online. (I have a budding collection of 3 small stones.) My husband is going to Hyderabad, India on a business trip, and I was wondering, does anyone know of a reputable jewelry store that sells loose moonstones there? I know it's a long shot, but I would be a great souvenir for him to bring back.

Thanks,
Preg

You'll find the moonstones with the blue schiller from online dealers, but you need to search for "rainbow moonstone", since that's what they are usually called. Beware of the bright blue ones, which have been coated. The natural ones have a blue flash when you turn them in the light.

 

[Largosmom]

Actually, blue flash moonstone and rainbow moonstone are different...I use "blue flash" as a search term. Rainbow moonstones have a different color of blue, in my somewhat limited experience...it's lighter and a bit more sky blue in color. The blue flash moonstones that I have have a deep "royal" blue color (yes, I know it's hard to describe colors in words)...it's the medium to shade of better sapphires, though.

Good luck..I'm a big fan of moonstone a well.

Laura

edited to add photos...blue flash are darker than the faceted rainbow moonstone. I could be wrong, but this is the color my limited experience has seen so far.

 

[morecarats]

This is what I see being sold as rainbow moonstone cabochons:

http://www.google.com/products?q=loose+rainbow+moonstone+cabochon&hl=en&aq=f

 

[smitcompton]

Hi,

I think you can find rainbow moonstones with the blue in India. Jaipor is the jewelry capital there so if he's near there, I'm sure he can find some. I have several pieces that I purchased with the rainbow moonstone from India. I just love them.

The most, beautiful moonstones I have ever seen are on this web site www.rwwise.com . Please go look. They are sold but it is a very good thing to see. Now, those are moonstones. I have never came across anything like them.
If I haven't got the website right, would someone please correct it.

Thanks,

Annette--Thats the one thing I would buy there.

 

[Largosmom]

Those are quite lovely stones.

I still think there are two main varieties...based on the web sites I've visited, but I am no expert! I know I like the darker blue stones best, though.

Laura

 

[iLander]

Or you could just stay home and buy these:

http://www.litnon.com/index.php?page=viewgem&id=8485

They're pretty small, though.

Barry at http://www.acstones.com/ often has some.

I've learned it's good to ask all the faceters mentioned on this forum, because they usually have piles of stuff not pictured on their sites.

Otherwise, have fun in India, there is some cool stuff over there!

 

[chrono]

My experience is that blue flash and rainbow moonstones are quite different in appearance. Blue moonstone shows only a blue adularescence while rainbow moonstone is multicoloured, hence the name rainbow. There is also cat's eye moonstone if I'm not mistaken. Other less well known colours include colourless to silvery-white, yellow to orange, green to gray, brown, peach, and pink.

Rainbow moonstone below.

 

[billyboo]

http://www.rwwise.com/products/id%7C1611

 

[pregcurious]

Thanks, everyone for your replies. I will make sure to let my husband know about Jaipur, India. I wish I were going with him to browse all the jewelery there!

 

[pregcurious]

I looked at Litnon and it says "treatment: none guaranteed natural". Does the seller just write that on all their products? Is this a reputable seller, and have people from here bought from this store?