Real Moonstone: How to Tell Natural Moonstone from Glass

The one thing to look for in real moonstone is adularescence — a soft, floating blue-white sheen that seems to glide across the stone as you tilt it. Glass and opalite imitations can look convincing under a shop light, but they can't reproduce that movement. Here's how to tell the difference.

What adularescence actually looks like

Turn a genuine moonstone slowly under a light source. The sheen should appear to float just beneath the surface and shift position as the angle changes — sometimes a cool blue, sometimes a milkier white, depending on the stone. It looks slightly three-dimensional, almost like light moving inside water, rather than sitting flat on top of the stone.

Signs of glass or opalite instead

• Too-even glow: imitations often have a uniform milky glow across the whole surface, rather than a sheen that concentrates and moves in one area at a time.
• No movement: tilt the stone — if the glow stays exactly where it is instead of travelling across the surface, it's very likely glass or resin.
• No internal cloudiness: real moonstone typically has faint internal texture or very slight cloudiness up close. Glass tends to be optically clean all the way through.
• Air bubbles: tiny trapped bubbles, visible with a loupe or a zoomed-in phone camera, are a reliable sign of glass — natural stone never has them.

Rainbow moonstone vs classic white moonstone

Classic white moonstone has a warmer, subtler sheen, often with a slightly grey or peach body colour. Rainbow moonstone is more transparent, with a more electric blue flash across a clearer stone. Both are genuine moonstone varieties — the difference is in the mineral structure, not one being "more real" than the other.

What moonstone traditionally symbolises

In Indian tradition, and in many other cultures, moonstone has long been associated with calm and new beginnings, and is sometimes linked to lunar cycles in folklore. We share this as belief and tradition, passed down the way most stone symbolism is, not as a claimed effect of wearing the stone.

Set in 925 silver, ready to wear

Our moonstone pieces — rough-cut hoops, stud earrings, several pendant styles and an adjustable raw moonstone ring — are set in genuine 925 sterling silver finished with our R-Coat™ anti-tarnish layer, so the metal keeps its shine while the stone itself needs no more than an occasional wipe with a soft cloth. Browse the full range within our natural gemstone silver jewellery collection, or start with our silver pendants and birthstone jewellery for a single statement piece.

The setting is held to the same standard as the stone. Our 925 sterling silver is tested by the Sheffield Assay Office (UK) not just for purity but for what it releases onto skin, which is what nickel-free, cadmium-free and lead-free rests on.