The Hues of Lapis Lazuli

Lapis Lazuli is a rock, a contact metamorphoses limestone that contains lazurite. It also is known to contain pyrite, the added sparkle of golden-yellow and white flakes of calcite. Other trace minerals can include hauuyne, sodalite, diopside, feldspar, mica, apatite, and zircon just to name a few. The stone was once powdered and mixed with oil to produce the pigment ultramarine(literally, 'beyond the sea'), which is seen in the beautiful blues of Renaissance paintings. Lapis is Latin for “stone”. The names of both lazulie and lazurite are derived from the Persian word Lazbuward and Latin word Lazulum, meaning “blue” or “heaven”. The lapis lazuli name, often shorted to lapis, is sometimes mistakenly used for the mineral lazurite.

The ancient Egyptians used it extensively in religious ceremonies, and lapis items were found in the tomb of Tutankhamen. It was a popular stone in Mesopotamia, Persia, and the ancient city of Ur, which had a large trade in lapis lazuli. The Greeks and Romans used it as a reward for bravery. The ancients also employed it for inlaid work and for jewelry, amulets, and talismans.

The value of lapis lazuli is largely determined by the abundance and color of the dark intense blue lazurite. The colors range from greenish-blue to purple-blue. The flecks of gold pyrite and white calcite can often increase the value or, when too numerous or too large, decrease it.

This new design features deep blue lapis lazuli stones with flecks of pyrite, disks of natural kyanite, faceted crystals and at the center an old style metal cloisonne round pendant; the blue hues bring out the best in the lapis and kyanite.

Traditionally Lapis Lazuli Properties: Wisdom, intuition, awareness, objectivity, clarity, creativity, expanded consciousness, dreams, purity, courage, serenity.

Visit Timeless Designs online at Ruby Lane to discover your next royal treasure; hidden among our custom artisan jewelry collections!

Feldspathoid Minerals – Lapis Lazuli

The feldspathoids is a group of minerals very similar to feldspars, including solidate, hauyne, nepheline, lazurite, leucite, cancrinite, and nosean. They are all minerals that would have become feldspars if there was more silica present when formed. Feldspars tend to contain three times as much silica, so feldspathoids do not occur in silica-rich rocks such as granite but typically form in volcanic lavas.

Its beautiful, rich blue color makes lazurite one of the most distinctive and attractive of all minerals. Its chemical make-up is quite complex, but the blue color comes from the sulphur that takes the place of some silicate atoms. It is soft and brittle and easily ground to make the rich blue pigment ultramarine, but it is most famous as the major ingredient of the gemstone Lapis Lazuli, famed since the days of Ancient Egypt. Little spots of gold pyrite look like starts in the deep blue lazurite of Lapis Lazuli.

Lapis Lazuli is one of the oldest, most treasured of all gemstones. Its name is a combination of the Latin Lapis for ‘stone’ and the Arabic Azul for ‘sky’ or the ancient Persian Lazhuward for ‘blue’. It usually occurs as lenses and veins in white marble. Consisting largely of Lazurite with spots of pyrite, it has a mottle look. Crystals are sometimes found, but more usually it is massive, and carved to make jewelry, cups and other decorative objects. It was first mined over 6,000 years ago at Sar-e-Sang in the Kokchua valley in Afghanistan, still the source of the world’s finest and most sought after Lapis Lazuli. The ancient royal tombs of the Sumerian city of Ur contained over 6,000 beautifully carved lapis lazuli statues, and it was a favorite stone of the Ancient Egyptians, much used in the tomb decorations of Tutankhamun. The Roman writer Pliny the Elder described it as ‘a fragment of the starry firmament’.

Today, lapis lazuli is mined near Lake Baikal in Russia and at Ovalle in Chile as well as in Afghanistan.

Lapis Lazuli: Wisdom, intuition, awareness, objectivity, clarity, creativity, expanded consciousness, dreams, purity, courage, serenity.
Pearl: Purity, faith, charity, innocence, integrity, focus, wisdom, spirituality, sincerity, fertility.

Custom designed gemstone jewelry available at our website.
Research from various gem-rock-mineral books.