XDark Blue Medium Small Lapis buying Lazuli Heart Cabochon Pair/ backed/p

Pair of Medium Small Dark Blue Lapis Lazuli Heart Cabochons

18mm x 17mm x 4mm (2)
22 carats (combined weight)

These are just gorgeous lapis lazuli hearts. They have a beautiful deep blue color with cloudy grey matrix in it.

All my cabochons are backed in hard, black epoxy for stability and strength.

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LAPIS LAZULI

Lapis lazuli, also known simply as "lapis," is a blue metamorphic rock that has been used by people as a gemstone, sculpting material, and ornamental material for thousands of years. Unlike most other gem materials, lapis lazuli is not a mineral. Instead, it is a rock composed of multiple minerals. The blue color of lapis lazuli is mainly derived from the presence of lazurite, a blue silicate mineral of the sodalite group with a chemical composition of Lapis lazuli has been popular through most of recorded human history. Mining for lapis occurred in the Badakhshan Province of northeastern Afghanistan as early as 7000 BC. The lapis was used to make beads, small jewelry items and small sculptures. These have been found at Neolithic archaeological sites dating back to about 3000 BC in Iraq, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. Lapis lazuli appears in many Egyptian archaeological sites that date back to about 3000 BC. It was used in many ornamental objects and jewelry. Powdered lapis was used as a cosmetic and a pigment. In Biblical times the word "sapphire" was often used as a name for lapis lazuli. For that reason, many scholars believe that at least some of the references to sapphire in the Bible are actually references to lapis lazuli. Some modern translations of the Bible use the word "lapis" instead of "sapphire." Lapis lazuli started to be seen in Europe during the Middle Ages. It arrived in the form of jewelry, buying cutting rough, and finely ground pigment. Today lapis lazuli is still used in jewelry and ornamental objects. As a pigment it has been replaced with modern materials except by artists who strive to use historical methods.