Lapis lazuli is a relatively rare semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense blue color.
Lapis lazuli has been collected from mines in the Badakhshan province of Afghanistan for over 6,000 years and there are sources that are found as far east as in the region around Lake Baikal in Siberia. Trade in the stone is ancient enough for lapis jewelry to have been found at Predynastic Egyptian and ancient Sumerian sites, and as lapis beads at neolithic burials in Mehrgarh, the Caucasus, and even as far from Afghanistan as Mauritania.
Lapis takes an excellent polish and can be made into jewelry, carvings, boxes, mosaics, ornaments, and vases. It was also ground and processed to make the pigment ultramarine for tempera paint and, more rarely, oil paint. Its usage as a pigment in oil paint ended in the early 19th century when a chemically identical synthetic variety, often called French ultramarine, became available.
In ancient times, lapis lazuli was known as sapphire, which is the name that is used today for the blue corundum variety sapphire.
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Lapis Faceted Brick
Size: 4 mm X 6mm to 4 mm X 8 mm
Lapis Faceted Oval
Size: 5 mm X 7 mm to 7 mm X 11 mm
Lapis Faceted Tumble
Size: 15 mm to 24 mm
Lapis Lazuli 4mm round
Sold by string of 14.5 inches
Lapis Lazuli 6mm round
Sold by string of 14.5 inches
Lapis Lazuli 8mm round
Sold by strings of 14.5 inches
Lapis Lazuli Brick
Size: 3mm X 6mm to 4mm X 8mm
Sold by string of 14.5 inches
Lapis Lazuli Button
Size: 4mm to 6mm
Sold by string of 14.5 inches
Lapis Lazuli Natural Chips
Sold by string of 36 inches
Lapis Lazuli Plain Coin Beads
Size: 8mm to 10mm
Sold by String of 14.5 inches