What is Lapis Lazuli?
Rather than being a single mineral, lapis is a stone that contains three distinct minerals. The first is lazurite, which is the deep blue colored mineral seen in lapis. The second mineral is calcite, which are the white spots in the stone. The third mineral pyrite, are the gold or brassy looking spots in the stone.
Stones with the largest quantity of lazurite, and the smallest amount of calcite and pyrite are considered the highest quality gemstones. As in the case of the crystal and lapis earrings above, we use the highest quality material that has a large percentage of lazurite.
Lapis has one of the oldest traditions of a stone being used for decorative purposes. Many of the treasures of the ancient Egyptian pharaohs are adorned with lapis lazuli. One of the most famous examples is the death mask of King Tutankhamun, which is gold inlayed with lapis, turquoise and carnelian.
(See pic to the left.) The gemstone was also ground to make eye shadow.
In medieval Europe and through the Renaissance ground lapis was used as blue pigment in paints.
Most jewelry quality lapis comes from the Badakshan area of Afghanistan. Beautiful mineral specimens can be seen at mineralatlas.com and mindat.org. Mindat also has site specific Afghanistan lapis photos.
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