[Jewelry making - Article 00122] - [Orchid] GemBits - Lapis Lazuli

[Sandra I. Smith]

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    Lapis lazuli, as lovely as its exotic name, has decorated humans and
    enhanced their art for thousands of years. 

    Normally a rich deep shade of blue or blue-violet, lapis lazuli may
    at times have a slight greenish cast. It is often sprinkled with
    small gold specks. Those specks are tiny bits of pyrite (fool's
    gold) embedded in the stone. Poets compare lapis lazuli to a night
    sky full of stars. Early people revered lapis lazuli as the home of
    various deities and believed that it would confer blessings on them.
    Healers used it to alleviate many ailments, including asthma,
    depression, and eye problems. Ancient Greeks believed it to an
    effective antidote to snake bite. Soldiers sharpened their swords on
    lapis lazuli, hoping to make themselves invisible. 

    Later, royalty, like Catherine the Great of Russia, used it to line
    the walls of their palaces. Artists in the Middle Ages ground it up
    to make a luminous pigment called ultramarine, which is the source
    of the glowing blues in the old masterpieces. Monks also used
    ultramarine pigment for the illustrations in their finest
    manuscripts. 

    Lapis lazuli is one of those rare gemstones that occurs in only one
    color - blue. Its name is a combination of Arabic and Latin words
    meaning "blue stone." 

    Miners first extracted lapis lazuli from the earth more than 6000
    years ago in Babylon (now Afghanistan). Lapis lazuli is still
    primarily mined in Afghanistan, with smaller mines in Chile, Myanmar
    (Burma), Russia, and the U.S. Scholars believe that the references
    to sapphire in the Bible actually allude to lapis lazuli, as all
    blue stones at that time were called sapphire. 

    Lapis lazuli gets its blue color from lazurite, a complex mineral
    containing sodium, aluminum, sulfur, calcium, silicon, and oxygen.
    Other minerals in lapis lazuli may include amphibole, feldspar,
    mica, apatite, sphene, and diopside. As lapis lazuli is a
    combination of minerals, technically it is a rock. However, its
    beauty has allowed it to be classified as a gemstone. 

    A soft (Mohs 5 - 6) and porous gemstone, lapis lazuli needs to be
    protected from solvents and other chemicals. Jewelry made from it
    needs to be stored away from harder stones and metals, to prevent
    damage. Because of its softness, lapis lazuli is often used for
    carved objects. (See my January, 1999 article, "On A Scale of One to
    Ten" for an explanation of the Mohs scale and softness.) 

    Lapis lazuli has many imitators that the require the buyer to
    beware. Swiss lapis, German lapis, and blue onyx are minerals such
    as jasper and quartz that have been dyed blue. 

    Used by humans in myriad ways over the millennia, lapis lazuli
    remains a favorite of those who treasure blue gemstones 


****Sandra I. Smith, Writer ****





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