LAPIS LAZULI

• Product: Lapis Lazuli
• Shape: Round cabochon
• Color: Blue
• Size: 15.80 mm
• Weight: 16.00 carats
• Clarity: Opaque appearance
• Treatment: Untreated
• Origin: Afghanistan

Lapis lazuli, (Lapislazuli, or Lapis) is a mixture of blue minerals, which may have in the mineralogical composition lazurite, pyrite, calcite or small amounts of diopside, sodalite, etc. It was used 7,000 years ago as a gem and dye.

Small objects made of lapis lazuli have been found in the Egyptian pyramids; it was used by the Babylonians, and for the ancient Chinese it was a symbol of power. From this material the Greeks and Romans carved figurines, amulets, vessels and seals. Until it was synthesized in 1828, ultramarine pigment was made from ground lazurite mixed with wax and oil.

The most important and oldest mines are in Afghanistan. Lazurite has been mined since Antiquity in the Badakhshan region, on the upper course of the Amudaria River, the first mention of which belongs to Marco Polo in the 13th century. The Sar-e-Sang deposit is located at an altitude of 3-4000 m and covers an area of about 2 km². Blocks weighing up to 110 kg have been found, although crystals up to 5 cm are rare. Smaller holdings are known in Pakistan, Myanmar and India. Russian lapis lazuli, famous throughout the world, was discovered in 1851 near Lake Baikal; eight localities are known here where lazurite blocks weigh up to 60 kg; in 1930, lazurite was discovered in Tajikistan (Pamir Mountains), at an altitude of 4,500 m, including vaguely pyramidal-shaped aggregates, up to 5 m high. Lazurite is also known in South Africa, Angola and Rwanda (pegmatites of Burundi). And Chile is a major producer of light blue to blue-green lazurite, which is mined from an altitude of 3000 m. Lazurite objects can be found in museums and treasures around the world. The most famous objects are probably the lapis lazuli columns in St. Isaac's Cathedral and the works in the Hermitage, both at St. Petersburg, as well as a blue lazurite vase, 40.5 cm high, in the Palazzo Pitti in Florence, Italy.