Moonstone was named after it’s blue-white sheen (called adularescence) which is similar to moonshine. It has been used in jewelry for thousands of years; the Romans admired it and believed it to be solidified rays of the Moon, Greeks associated it with their lunar deities and it had a surge of popularity in the Art Nouveau period. There are deposits all over the world, including the Austrian Alps, Mexico, Norway, Poland, India, and the USA. It is the Florida state gemstone, despite not occurring naturally in the state, to commemorate the Moon landings.
