Lapis Lazuli 20x37mm Faceted Kite shape

Deep blue with gold pyrite, cut in Jaipur.

On the strand, lapis reads as a run of deep navy with small gold sparks scattered through it. The gold is pyrite, and it is the surest sign you are holding lapis and not something else. Some beads carry a thin gray-white cloud of calcite; others are almost solid blue. Faceted rondelles catch light in short flashes along the edges, while smooth rounds go quiet and matte-dark, like ink. People reach for it because the blue holds its own next to gold wire.

Lapis legends are among the oldest recorded. In older gem tradition the stone stands for truth, and that is the association people who work with it repeat most often. Some accounts link lapis to mother goddess figures of the ancient world. Pliny the Elder, writing in Rome, called it a fragment of the starry firmament, in admiration of the deep blue with its twinkling bits of gold. Scholars believe many early references to sapphire may in fact describe lapis, which says something about how the blue was ranked. Jewelry made from it has been found in prehistoric tombs in Asia, Africa, and Europe. Older birthstone lists name it for December.

Beliefs about stones are tradition, not advice. Watch the film and read the full story.