Lapis Lazuli

Luminous blue with golden pyrite – the stone that became ultramarine.

Rock type: Lapis lazuli (lazurite with pyrite and calcite)
Origin: Afghanistan
Surface: polished
Hardness (Mohs): 5–5.5

Made in this stone (2) ↓

Close-up

The same photo at three magnifications – this is how the pattern looks up close.

Every veneer is one of a kind. The image shows the stone; your piece will look different.

The story

Lapis lazuli is not marble but a semi-precious stone – a rock of the blue mineral lazurite, flecked with golden pyrite and white calcite. Our lapis comes from Afghanistan, from the mountains of the Hindu Kush, where it has been mined for over 6,000 years: the Egyptians laid it in Tutankhamun’s tomb, and ground lapis became the ultramarine with which Vermeer painted the headscarf of his “Girl with a Pearl Earring” – a pigment then worth more than gold.

We grind and polish it until the blue glows from within. Every slice shows a different distribution of blue, gold and white.

Properties

Not a stone for facades but for jewellery and painting – coveted for thousands of years.