This Spring We're Loving Lapis

To The Moon & Back Earrings - $72

Today I wanted to give you the scoop on one of my favourite gemstones - lapis lazuli. If you have perused our Spring '14 Collection you'll have noticed that this gem is featured in a number of our new designs, and will certainly be making more appearances in the future. While lapis lazuli can of course be worn year-round (like any gemstone you love) and may not be as quintessentially "summer" as say, turquoise, it nonetheless always reminds me of time on the ocean or lake, blue skies and adventure!

Lapis lazuli details in "The Ascension" by Jacopo di Cione (1371)

Lapis lazuli is a gemstone that has been adored by people for millennia, having been mined in Afghanistan since 7,000 BC. It is one of the first gemstones to be worn as jewellery, and Cleopatra is said to have used powdered lapis lazuli as eye shadow (only slightly more glamorous than Cover Girl, right?). 

The brilliant "ultramarine" blue pigment created from ground lapis lazuli was also used by Baroque or Renaissance painters in their masterpieces - often to depict the robes of angels or The Virgin Mary, and some palaces and church walls from the Middle Ages have panels inlaid with lapis. It is in fact one of the most expensive pigments ever created and worth more than it's weight in gold!

While lapis lazuli is most commonly known for or associated with a deep, celestial blue, it can be found in varying shades of the color - from light to dark. Some lapis lazuli also contains white streaks of calcite, especially that which is mined in Russia or Chile. The brassy, golden veins that are often seen running through this gemstone? Pyrite, or fool's gold, as it's more commonly known and which lends a beautiful shimmer to this otherwise opaque stone. 
 

Lapis jewels in our SS'14 Look Book

Lapis lazuli is said to be a symbol of wisdom and truth, and the stone of friendship. Those who study healing gemstones say lapis lazuli can aid in the process of learning and enhance memory. It is even thought to possess visionary properties and is considered one of the most powerful gemstones for spiritual awareness.

Personally, I love the depth of color this gemstone can possess, especially when it is marbled with pyrite and in a shade of midnight blue.

How do you feel about lapis lazuli? Is it a beauty in your eyes too?