Moonstone (rare ''Cat's Eye'' gem)

Item Description

Moonstone is a varietal term that used in reference to translucent opalescent Feldspar (typically Microcline or rarely Orthoclase) from various places around the world. Most of the time the stones are polished into cabochons, though faceted material is seen from time to time, but one of the rarest and most desirable examples are the hard to find "cat's eye" gems. This particular stone is from India, and we had some of these going back nearly 20 years ago, and then nothing for a long time. We got this one out of an old collection, and it's still one of the very few of it's kind that we've had to offer in the auctions. This stone is a nice "Oval Cabochon" cut gem that shows a distinct "eye" (best seen with a singular concentrated light source) running the length of the gem. When it is viewed in reflected light, the surface of the stone exhibits a slight bluish "sheen". This is a very attractive and hard to find Moonstone that I would say is desirable among collectors.