Gemstone of the Week – Lapis Lazuli

The color scheme of this gemstone is just as off-the-wall as the name, Lapis Lazuli.

This deep blue gemstone is opaque and composed of the minerals Lazurite, Calcite and Pyrite.  It hails from the Sar-i Sang mines and other mines that are found in the northeast of Afghanistan, going back as far as the 7th millenium B.C. Also called Lapis for short, this gem has been found in bead form at neolithic burials in Caucasus and Mehrgarh.

A fun fact: Lapis was used to decorate the eyebrows on King Tutankhamun’s funeral mask, dating back to somewhere between 1341 and 1323 B.C.