Thursday Thirteen ~ Lapis Lazuli

Thirteen Things about Lapis Lazuli It was among the first gemstones to be worn as jewellery and worked on. It is said that the legendary city of Ur on the Euphrates plied a keen lapis lazuli trade as long ago as the fourth millennium B.C., the material coming to the land of the two great rivers from the famous deposits in Afghanistan. In the Middle East, it was thought to have magical powers. Alexander the Great brought Lapis Lazuli to Europe. There, the colour was referred to as 'ultramarine', which means something like 'from beyond the sea'. The euphonious name is composed from 'lapis', the Latin word for stone, and 'azula', which comes from the Arabic and means blue. Lapis lazuli is regarded by many people around the world as the stone of friendship and truth. The blue stone is said to encourage harmony in relationships and help its wearer to be authentic and give his or her opinion openly. Lapis lazuli is an opaque rock that mainly consists of diopside and lazurite. At between 5 and 6 on the Mohs scale, this stone is among the less hard gemstones. Lapis lazuli is often sealed with colourless wax or synthetic resin. As long as these substances are not mixed with any colouring agent, this sealing process simply has the effect of improving the stone's wearing qualities. Lapis Lazuli should always be protected from acidic substances, and it should not be exposed to too much sunlight. As they did more than 5000 years ago, the best raw stones still come from the steep Hindu Kush in the north-east of Afghanistan. Nature also created deposits in Russia, to the west of Lake Baikal, and in the Chilean Andes, where the blue rock often has white or grey lime running through it. In smaller amounts, lapis lazuli is also found in Italy, Mongolia, the USA and Canada, Myanmar and Pakistan, but in really good qualities it is rare all over. Finely distributed crystals of pyrites which shimmer in gold and look like sequins will increase the value of the gemstone, whilst a restless, rough or blotchy grain will reduce it.