Sunstone

Sunstone is a variety of feldspar — specifically oligoclase or labradorite with a difference. The shimmer comes from tiny platelets of copper or hematite caught inside the crystal as it formed, scattering light in a way that makes the surface look lit from within. The effect is most dramatic in the Oregon variety, where the flash moves with the stone as you turn it. Most sunstone on the market comes from Oregon, Norway, or India.

The name follows the colour and the warmth. Unlike ruby or sapphire, which were named for their rarity, sunstone's name points to what it looks like — the feeling of a late-afternoon window.

The crystal tradition places sunstone in the lower-to-mid body: the sacral and solar plexus chakras, the space of movement, appetite and personal will. Leo and Libra carry it in the zodiac, and fire is its element. The word that surfaces most often in the older lapidary texts is cheerful — not a quality every stone can claim.

The tradition's quieter suggestion is to use it as a marker. The stone itself holds nothing in place; what it does is offer a physical, portable object for the attention to return to. If you set a small intention — more movement today, a little more willingness to speak up — keeping sunstone nearby means the intention has somewhere to live between the moments you remember it. Practice and object work together. The stone keeps the thread; the person does the work.

In the catalogue: tumbled stones, pendulums, jewellery and larger pieces — each one with its own particular way of catching the light.