Lapis Lazuli / Lazurite

Known to the ancient Egyptians as the ‘Sky Stone’, Lapis Lazuli (or Lazurite) is one of the oldest gemstones – a blue stone mottled with white calcite and brassy pyrite. Lapis Lazuli has been mined in the Kokcha valley in Afghanistan for roughly 7000 years. This gem was considered sacred and thus the mines were…