Feldspar gemstones (silicate minerals) are certainly delightful gifts from nature that occur as rock-forming minerals. Yes! You got it right! Felspar is not actually a single gemstone but a gem group that can be classified into plagioclase, microcline and orthoclase types. These silicate minerals are also called framework silicates. Each type comes with its specific structure (crystal structure), a particular refractive index, an alluring shade and more specific features as induced by nature over the time. You must have surely heard about sparkling gemstones like sunstone, moonstone, amazonite gem or labradorite. All these gems are feldspar gemstones. Due to the variety of gemstones included in the Feldspar group, the feldspar jewelry range surprises you with its wide variety of unique and attractive shades. You can shop the lovely yellow, orange, bluish-green and green jewelry while looking for feldspar gemstones jewelry. 

Feldspar Meaning or History

Feldspar history and meaning are important and exciting topics for someone who is planning to buy feldspar gems or jewelry. It is important to mention that felspar is one of the major minerals found across the crust of Earth. The mineral covers nearly sixty percent of the area of our planet’s crust. The phenomenal light refraction from the feldspar gemstone can stun you with joy and surprise. This group of minerals called feldspar contains calcium, sodium, potassium & aluminium silicates. The name Feldspar was provided by Johan Gottschalk Wallerius. It was in the year 1747 when this name was suggested and became popular soon. If you are curious to know why Feldspar is called so, let us tell you that it originates in the German term ‘feld’ which means field. In fact, the initial specimens of feldspar gems were found in the field and that’s why, it has been called so! Now let us examine the three mineral species of Feldspar. 
 

1. •    Microcline feldspar – The chemical formula for this one is KAlSi2O8. The popular feldspar gemstone from this category is Amazonite. 
    
2. •    Orthoclase feldspar – The group of silicate minerals from this category has the chemical formula as KAlSi3O8. The best example for this category is the moonstone. 
    
3. •    Plagioclase feldspar – This groups has the chemical formula of NaAlSi3O8 &CaAl2Si2O8 and a few popular gemstones are categorized under the same. They are the rainbow moonstone, sunstone and labradorite. 

The species called the microcline feldspar classifies the separate feldspar gemstones, viz, the grey feldspar, and so on. Another example of the microcline category of feldspar is the amazonite gemstone.