Peach Moonstone Beads
Peach moonstone beads are orthoclase feldspar with the same floating glow as white moonstone but a warm apricot to salmon body color. It is one of the few moonstones with a strong color of its own. This collection holds natural peach moonstone in a range of finishes and shapes for bracelets, necklaces and earrings.
Appearance
The color runs from a creamy pale peach to a deeper salmon orange, and translucent beads show a soft silvery or golden sheen moving beneath the surface. Some beads are nearly opaque and read as a plain warm cream; others hold dark mineral flecks or small cloudy patches. Multicolor and mixed strands combine peach with white and grey moonstone.
A polished finish brings out the glow, which needs a smooth curved surface. Faceting adds sparkle and makes the color look more saturated, while a matte finish turns the stone into a soft, chalky apricot. Peach moonstone is 6 to 6.5 on the Mohs scale with 2 directions of cleavage, so it can chip on a sharp knock and will scratch against quartz. It wears well in necklaces and earrings, and in bracelets kept away from harder beads.
Formation and origin
Peach moonstone is orthoclase, a potassium feldspar, that cooled slowly in granite pegmatites and separated into fine alternating layers with albite; light scattering between those layers makes the sheen. The peach color comes from traces of iron in the feldspar and from fine iron oxide inclusions, the same elements that color sunstone, though peach moonstone lacks the metallic platelets that make sunstone sparkle. Nearly all of it comes from India, with smaller amounts from Sri Lanka, Madagascar and Tanzania.
Pairings
Labradorite beads: a cool grey with blue flash that sets off warm peach, and both are feldspar of equal hardness.
Sunstone beads: a close relative in the same orange range, adding metallic glitter to the moonstone glow.
Peridot beads: olive green against apricot, a natural pairing of warm and cool pastels.
Lore and Meaning
Peach moonstone meaning in crystal traditions keeps the lunar associations of all moonstone, intuition and new beginnings, and adds the warmth of its color: it is described as a stone of emotional support, creativity and self-worth. It is commonly placed with the sacral and heart chakras. These are traditional beliefs, not claims of physical effect.
