Minerals Zone

Global Marketplace for trading industrial minerals granites,
marbles & other stones...

INDUSTRIAL MINERALS|STONES|GEMSTONES|SEND ENQUIRY

Minerals ZoneGemstones ► Lapis Lazuli

Industrial Minerals

Stones

Gemstones

Lapis Lazuli

Looking for Stones Suppliers?

Let us help you find the right suppliers!

Free, Easy, Simple way to find Suppliers.


Lapis Lazuli The "sapphire" of classical times, it has always been a popular stone on account of its fine blue colour. It is really a rock consisting of varying quantities of a blue mineral hauyne and calcite. Small specks and strings of the yellow iron pyrites are common.

The stone is becoming increasingly rare and its price rises steadily. It now costs more than gold and is the only opaque stone, apart from turquoise, sold by the carat (provided the quality is good). My personal advice is to choose a Saxe blue stone, of a bright compact texture, with no visible specks of white or green. To the contrary. golden threads in no way diminish the value of the stone and in fact are the means by which it may be identified. Lapis lazuli may be confused with sodalite, which has no golden threads, or blue aventurine, which has a schiller.

The stone is either cut as beads for necklaces or en cabochon for exclusive jewelry. It is especially attractive when set with diamonds or pearls.

The finest quality comes from Afghanistan, the lightest coloured from Chile, and other varieties from Russia and China. Widely popular in ancient times, the stone was sometimes used for decorating temples, but when the Romans realized that supplies were running low, they simply took to painting Carrara marble to resemble lapis lazuli.

Techinical Specification

Name
Moh's
Specific Gravity
Structure
Cleavage
Refractive Index
Double
Disp.
Pleochro
Fluorescence
Lapis Lazuli 6-May 2.4-2.9 Isometric None About 1.50 None None None Strong
white

Still Searching for Suppliers?

Let us help you find the right suppliers!

and receive quotes from genuine suppliers!


Minerals Zone





Industrial Minerals Stones Gemstones

Stone gallery  |  Organisations  |  Tradeshows  |  Mineral News  |  Publications  |  Glossary

Copyright © Mineralszone.com