Blue Lapis Lazuli

My collection of Jewellery made with Lapis Lazuli, Blue Lapis Lazuli

     Blue Lapis Lazuli is a very special gemstone, prized for thousands of years for its incredible, intense ultra marine blue color. The name comes from the combination of two words; the Latin word for stone 'Lapis' and the Arabic word 'Azula” which mean blue.

     These stones have adorned priests and royalty, as jewellery and cosmetics, clothing and as ornaments, to decorate palaces, holy temples and more.

     The vibrant blue stones were, ground into powder to pigment cloth for royal robes, used in art, etc. It is said that Cleopatra used the ground blue Lapis powder to enhance her eyes and it has been used in art for thousands of years in around the world. Prized by the renaissance painters like Michelangelo who used it to pigment his paint for the frescoes in the Sistine Chapel and Johannes Vermeer in his painting “Girl with Pearl Earring”.

     Blue Lapis Lazuli is thought to be one of the gemstones in the breast plate of High Priest, from the holy scriptures in Bible (Exodus 28:15-21). Lapis Lazuli was often called Sapphire thousands of years ago and is one the traditional September Birthstones long with sapphire.

     The finest Blue Lapis Lazuli is still mined in Afghanistan as it has been for thousands of years, but there are few deposits left and it is very difficult to find. There are some deposits in Chilli, US, Myanmar and Siberia.

     Blue Lapis is made up of mainly Lazurite, calcite and pyrite. The deep blue gemstone has little sparkly particles of Pyrite most of the time and sometimes has is has little bits of white Calcite. The highest quality stones are almost completely blue, but, now most Lapis Lazuli has been treated and dyed to enhance its color.