Malachite, Oval

DEEP BLUE LAPIS LAZULI EARRINGS in 0.925 Sterling Silver with French ear wires

Originating from the Persian word for the gem, lāžward, Lapis Lazuli is a deep-blue semi-precious stone prized since antiquity for its intense color., As early as the 7th millennium BC, lapis lazuli was mined in the Sar-i Sang mines, in what is now Northern Afghanistan. Lapis Lazuli artifacts have been found dating back to 7570 BC. Lapis Lazuli was used in the funeral mask of Tutankhamun. By the end of the Middle Ages, Europe began importing Lapis lazuli in order to grind it into powder and process it to make the pigment called ultramarine. Ultramarine was used by some of the most important artists of the Renaissance and Baroque, including Masaccio, Perugino, Titian, and Vermeer. In the early Christian tradition, Lapis Lazuli was regarded as the stone of the Virgin Mary.