The Lapis Lazuli we use in our lapis lazuli jewellery is sourced in Afghanistan. It is cut to our design by our stone cutter in Jaipur, India. This ensures a good consistent blue with plenty of gold flecks (iron pyrite or fools gold) and unique design. We like to leave the surface of the Lapis rough. This gives it a lively texture leading to an undulating organic shape to the edges of the setting.
Lapis Lazuli bracelet and necklace using “A” grade rough cut Lapis Lazuli.
Click on images for more details or to purchase your Lapis Lazuli jewellery
Lapis lazuli or lapis for short, is a deep blue semi-precious stone. It has been prized since antiquity for its intense color. Lapis is the Latin word for “stone”. Lazuli is the name of a place where lapis lazuli was mined. The name of the stone came to be associated with its color. The English word azure, French azur, Italian azzurro, Spanish azul, all come from the name and color of lapis lazuli.
Lapis Lazuli earstuds and ring using rough cut lapis lazuli and gold plated silver.
Lapis lazuli has been mined in the Badakhshan province in northeast Afghanistan since the 7th millennium BC. Lapis beads have been found at neolithic burials. It was used for the eyebrows, and other features, on the funeral mask of Tutankhamun (1341–1323 BC). At the end of the Middle Ages, lapis lazuli began to be exported to Europe. Here it was ground into powder and made into ultramarine. This was the finest and most expensive of all blue pigments. It was used by some of the most important artists of the Renaissance and Baroque and was often reserved for the clothing of the central figures of their paintings, especially the Virgin Mary.
Lapis Lazili rings in silver and 18ct yellow gold, pictured with a silver gilt necklace
There are also lower grade deposits in Russia and in the Chilean Andes, where the blue rock often has white or grey lime running through it. In really good qualities it is rare. That is why the price of lapis lazuli jewelry vary widely, from luxurious to quite inexpensive. The price of this gemstone are largely dependent on the beauty and intensity of the colour. The most popular is an intense, deep blue like the pieces pictured below.
Lapis lazili large earrings (25-30mm) and pendant in gold plated silver.
