It is the blue of beyond the seas: Ultramarine. This magnificent pigment helped to create some of the most beautiful paintings in history. And indeed, its color defines its name. Ultramarine is a deep blue color and a pigment which was originally made by grinding lapis lazuli into a powder. Ultramarine was the finest and most expensive blue used by Renaissance painters. So, all aboard, we will tell you about this magnificent charmer.

The Symbolism of Blue Colour

Blue is the color of the dark side, the wonderful, the unfathomable, longing, and realization. In Morocco, a dab of blue behind the ear of the bride wards off the power of evil. In Jerusalem, a blue hand, painted on the door, offers protection for the house and its inhabitants.

In East Africa, blue pearls signify fertility. While in symbolism, blue is the color of water. Water is the archetypical image of womanhood.

In Christian tradition, blue is the color of the Virgin Mary. In Tibetan Buddhism, consciousness and wisdom – called Dharma-dhatu and considered attributes of the immortal androgyne – materialize as a radiant blue. The god Krishna has blue skin.

In Chinese medicine blue corresponds to the Dan-Tien, the heart chakra. It is related to respiration. The esoteric tradition of China associates blue with immortality. Shades of blue are described as shallow or deep instead of light or dark in China.

The blue city in Judaic tradition is the city of the immortals.

Curious facts:

Blue is for a baby girl; pink for a baby boy in Belgium.

“Prince Charming” is called “The Blue Prince” in Italy and Spain.

Lapis Lazuli as a Pigment

High-quality lapis lazuli has been used as a mineral pigment for over 1,000 years. Bright blue pieces of lapis are trimmed of impurities and ground to a fine powder; the powder can then be mixed with oil or another vehicle for use as a paint. Higher-grade pigments can be produced by washing the powder with mild acid to remove calcite and dolomite that dilute the blue color. The material is then processed to remove grains of pyrite and other foreign minerals. This lapis-derived pigment was named “ultramarine blue,” a name that has been subsequently used for hundreds of years.

Converting lapis lazuli into a pigment is not as simple as turning malachite into green pigment. It is a tricky process and today we will describe Cennini’s master formula to turn lapis lazuli into lapis pigment – ultramarine.

Lapis lazuli means Blue Stone. Lapis is the Latin word for “stone” and lazuli comes from “lazulum” which comes from the Persian word “lazhuward” which is the name of the stone in Persian.

It is composed of an accumulation of minerals not a single mineral (unlike rubies and emeralds); it is mostly lazurite, typically at levels of 30-40%. Lapis gemstone also contains calcite (white veins), sodalite (blue), and pyrite (gold flecks of color).

The blue color of lazurite is more intense when there is greater quantity of sulfur anions. It is usually described as an intense blue to a gray blue. In its dark blue variety, the content of sulfur reaches zero. That is, for its use as a pigment, it is imperative to select the richest in Lazurite mineral and remove the aforementioned impurities.

In the best quality stones, the color is uniformly distributed, but generally, lapis is stained. The mineral composition, except lazurite, influences also in the color. Well-distributed pyrite highlights the color with a bronze golden shade. An excess of the same minerals also gives lapis a boring green dye. The majority of high quality lapis admirers and collectors also agree that is better when there is less calcite.

Lapis lazuli has been mined from Afghanistan since the seventh millennium B.C. and has been used since then. The best mineral came from the mines of Badakhshan (today Afghanistan) imported to Europe through Venice. Other deposits are found near Lake Baikal in Siberia and in the Andes.

There is no evidence of ultramarine pigment use by Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. The lapis lazuli itself was quite famous among this nations, but not its pigment apparently.

The first known use of lapis lazuli pigment as we know it now dates back to the VI and VII centuries, in paintings of Zoroastrians and Buddhist temples in Afghan caves. This pigment has also been identified on Chinese paintings from the X and XI centuries, on Indian murals from the XI, XII and the XVI centuries. Also on illuminated Anglo-Saxon manuscripts from 1100.

Illuminated Manuscripts

Used during the Romanesque and Gothic periods to coloring illuminated manuscripts: Bibles or books of psalms that contained illustrations of the biblical passages were dyed in azure blue.

Among the earliest Christian manuscripts are the Lindisfarne Gospels, written and illustrated at the Northumbrian Abbey of Lindisfarne on Holy Island around 698. It has touches of Lapis Lazuli Pigments.

In its seventh and eighth century, the monastery was wealthy enough to afford the skills and materials to create the Gospels. In fact, the monks were the ones who controlled all the pigment commerce, including ultramarine blue. The monastic network provided inspiration and hospitality to the traveler.

Bury Bible

It belonged to the Benedictine monastery of Bury St Edmunds. Ruined by the Reformation, Bury had been throughout the middle Ages one of the grandest monasteries in western Europe. It was commissioned around 1135. According to Wikipedia, the first recorded professional artist in England created this magical work of art. Called Master Hugo. The illuminations were magnificent. One of the most distinctive illuminations was the one with the Moses cycle. With Moses explaining the Ten Commandments to engrossed Israelite’s.

Dover Bible

Also commissioned by the Benedictine Order and made in the Christ Church, Canterbury in the middle of the twelfth century. It has spectacular ornamented initials. The heavenly lapis lazuli was reserved for the holiest biblical characters.

Trinity Apocalypse

One of the most impressive manuscripts is the Trinity Apocalypse. No one knows who wrote it but was made in the mid-thirteenth century. It is an enormous, sumptuous apocalypse. It has an image where vermilion dragons swirl out of lapis lazuli skies to attack lapis-robed virgins who are rescued by lapis-draped angels.

Winchester Bible

Commissioned by Henry of Bois at the end of the twelfth century. Experts estimate there were about six hands at work on the illuminations. Their nicknames were: Master of the Leaping Figures, who painted a lavishly lapised ”D”, showing Solomon and the prophets accepting the book from the wise man in the Book of Wisdom. The Master of Genesis Initial, the Amalekite Master, even the Master of the superb full-page Morgan Leaf who had the audacity to paint over a design of the Master of the Apocryphal Drawings.

Floresse Bible

Written and illuminated around 1153 for the canons of Floresse Abbey in South-east Belgium. Ultramarine was used extravagantly in the frontispiece to volume two with the left hand miniature illustrating ‘The Virtues and Corporeal Works of Mercy’ and the right hand miniature illustrating the Transfiguration.

Created in that Crusader world of twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The Floresse Bible is now in The British Library. It was created in the scriptorium of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem between 1131 and 1143. The text is in Latin and was illustrated by one Basil. There is an image where Christ appears standing on a huge rock of Lapis Lazuli.

These Bibles were commissioned by large wealthy monasteries with well-established scriptoria. However, there were also smaller, more personal illuminated books.

[Miniature of the Harrowing of Hell (Anabasis) and Miniature of the Transfiguration]

Sherborne Missal

It was made for the Benedictine Abbey in Dorset between 1400 and 1407. This manuscript is digitally displayed in the British Library.

On the illumination for Christmas Day the Virgin lies robed in ultramarine on a vermilion rug with an anxious Joseph hanging over her. There is full page Crucifixion with Mary (in blue) below the cross.

Use of Lapis Lazuli during Renaissance

Expensive Pigment

At the end of the Middle Ages, with the opening of commercial routes between the Byzantine Empire and Western Europe, lapis lazuli was transported by sea and land from East to West. There it was ground into pigment, being the finest and most expensive of all blue pigments. This pigment known as “ultramarine” was very expensive, so sometimes it cost up to 4 times more than the gold itself (calling the mineral as “blue gold”), hence it was so demanded by the best painters. You really can said that at the time of the Renaissance it was a mineral only suitable for the richest of society.

Later, after the Renaissance, blue was the rule for the design of the mantle of the Virgin Mary, a privileged character throughout the history of art for always wear those blue mantles, as expensive as a gold tunic.

[The Entombment – Michelangelo]

One artist who insisted on using natural ultramarine was the Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675). We can appreciate the use of ultramarine in these beautiful examples of Vermeer paintings. Woman in Blue Reading a Letter painted in 1662-1663 (Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam) and Young Woman with a Water Pitcher (1664-1665) Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Michelangelo could not afford ultramarine. It is said that his painting “The Entombment” was left unfinished as the result of his failure to procure the prized pigment. Rafael also reserved ultramarine for his final coat, preferring for his base layers a common azurite; Vermeer was less parsimonious in his application and proceeded to mire his family in debt. Embodied in its name is the quality of the shadow of this pigment.

Use of Lapis Lazuli by Vermeer

[Johannes Vermeer, Young Woman with a Water Pitcher]

Ultramarine can be found in almost all Vermeer’s paintings. Not only is it to be found in blue-colored objects, but traces can also be detected in shaded areas of white draperies, black marble tiles, green foliage, white-washed walls, shadows, and even the warm oranges and browns of wood and also clothing.

Vermeer realized that adding natural ultramarine to shades of grey gave them the characteristic brightness of intense daylight. He used the pigment to create bright white light. To do this he mixed ultramarine with lead white to cover the warm brown of the canvas.

Ultramarine Blue Pigment Formula

So, how can even you make an ultramarine blue pigment from lapis lazuli?

There are numerous medieval recipes for the making of lapis pigment. One formula was from the Benedictine monk Theophilus in the twelfth century. Another formula, which is also used today, is the one from Italian painter Cennino Cennini, who lived in the fourteenth to fifteenth century.

[Girl with a Pearl Earring – Johannes Vermeer]

Cennino Cennini Lapis Lazuli Pigment Formula

Cennini wrote:

Ultramarine is a colour illustrious, beautiful and most perfect, beyond all other colours; on could not say anything about it or do anything with it, but its quality would not still surpass.

[…]

Choose a good stone and ensure you have the correct quantities of all ingredients.

So, what needed to be done according to Cennini formula get the ultramarine blue pigment?

1. Get some good blue lapis lazuli and pound it first in a bronze mortar, then on a porphyry slab. Sift it and pound again.
2. Mix it with pine resin, gum mastic and wax. Cover your hands with linseed oil and knead well together;
3. Keep the ball for three days and also nights, working it a little every day.
4. To extract the blue, suspend the ball in a basin of warm lye. Then knead between two sticks (the lye is caustic).
5. Afterwards squeeze out the blue colour into the lye. Let it settle.
6. Pour off the lye and let the blue dry as powder.
7. Repeat the process over several days until no more blue is extracted. The dough retains the foreign particles, but the fine particles of lazurite settle in the alkaline water.
8. The first extraction gives the purest blue; each successive extraction is less and less blue until only a grayish colour remains – “ultramarine ash”.

Cennini wrote:

Bear in mind that if you have good lapis lazuli, the blue from the first two yields will be worth eight “ducats” an ounce.

Production of lapis lazuli pigment was such a hard work, so the artists would have employed a range of apprentices, students, and maybe even slaves to do the hard work.

In the video below you can watch the whole process describing the whole manufacture of ultramarine made old way.

Today, because of cost, very little ultramarine made from lapis lazuli is used, mainly by artists who are striving to learn historical techniques or achieve results similar to master painters of the past. It is prepared by a few pigment manufacturers who continue to use lapis lazuli from the historical sources in Afghanistan.

Nowadays, some pigments arrive ready to use, already mixed with honey. Others are mixed on the spot with egg yolk.

Cennini ha a special recommendation oh now to mix egg yolk with lapis lazuli powder. He even distinguished between the yolks of town eggs, and that of country eggs.

Wash in egg yolk to clean. Pinch egg yolk to break the membrane. Mix the lapis lazuli with the yolk but DO NOT MIX it with water. It is translucent enough.

Ultramarine blue made from lapis lazuli is one of the few natural pigments which has a permanent and vivid blue color, good opacity, and high stability. It has always been very expensive and today can sell for over $1,000 per pound for the highest quality.

Nowadays, there are different techniques, but Cennini’s formula is the base of all. With all existing formulas 4 blue pigments can be obtained: Fra Angelico Blue, Pure 1st grade pigment, Ultramarine Ash, Lapis Fine Powder.

Synthetic Pigment

Starting in the mid-1800s, artists and chemists began developing synthetic blue pigments for use as alternatives to ultramarine blue made from lapis lazuli. Some of these pigments also bear the name “ultramarine.” An artist who wants an ultramarine pigment made from lapis lazuli today must be sure that the pigment is not synthetic and is actually made from lapis lazuli. Synthetic ultramarine pigments have their advantages. Their blue color is usually deeper and more consistent than traditional ultramarine, and they also cost far less.

For its expensive cost, the search for synthetic ultramarine was assigned to the Societé d’Encouragement pour L’Industrie Nationale. In 1824, the Societé d’Encouragement offered a prize of six thousand francs to anyone who could produce a synthetic variety not to exceed three hundred francs per kilo.

On February 4, 1828, the prize was awarded to Jean Baptiste Guimet who submitted a process he had secretly developed in 1826. Guimet’s ultramarine was sold for four hundred francs per pound. This made it adopted by painters soon, without saving it in their mixtures with other pigments. However, the natural pigment continued to be manufactured until the mid-twentieth century for those artists who can afford it, among whom was Salvador Dalí.

Independent of Guimet, Christian Gottlob Gmelin, a professor of chemistry at the University of Tubingen discovered a slightly different method based on the analytical results of Désormes and Clément, which he published only one month after Guimet. Gmelin claimed that he beat Guimet and a rivalry ensued for years but France upheld Guimet’s right to the prize. By about 1830, Guimet’s ultramarine was being produced at a factory that he opened in Fleurieu-sur-Sâone, France.

Reflection of Light from Synthetic Ultramarine and Natural Ultramarine Blue Pigment Paint

X-ray diffraction analysis shows that there is no crystallographic difference between natural and synthetic ultramarine. However, the particles of the lapis lazuli pigments are more transparent allowing more light to pass through them allowing greater light reflection. At the same time, synthetic pigments do not allow much light to pass through them, absorbing most and reflecting little.

The lapis pigment particles are far more transparent allowing more light to pass through them also allowing greater reflection of light. While synthetic pigment particles do not allow much light to pass through them absorbing most of it and reflecting little.

The lapis pigment is a gemstone pigment therefore its particles act as finely faceted jewels reflecting light giving a crystalline glitter to the painting; synthetic ultramarine is a chemical pigment, its particles are round and small they cannot reflect light like natural ultramarine.

The natural ultramarine blue has a high stability to light and records have shown a painting 500 years old, which has as pure and intense a blue color as freshly painted. In addition, the natural pigment is superior in terms of chemical resistance and tone, because it has a finer and more delicate color than the artificial one.

It is suitable for every medium, equally excellent with oils, water and egg tempera. Ultramarine is well suited to make works of art more distinguished and alive with its gemstone energy.

Techniques in which Ultramarine Blue can be used in oil paintings

– With ultramarine pigment mixed in oil, you can paint wet on wet (i.e. mix paint on both the palette and the canvas)

– Layered (apply a layer of ultramarine paint once the previous has dried)

– Glaze – ideally suited for glaze (you can work with very thin transparent layers)

– Blending – it can be blended with any colour, giving smooth and velvety brush strokes. It imparts luminosity to every color it is blended with.

Magical Lapis that will stay with us for a long time through are Arts History. Embodied for eternity in the incredible master pieces the great artist left us.

Nowadays it is still a much appreciated mineral and used in jewelries, as much for its beauty as for its properties. I invite you to check out the beautiful models of our lapis lazuli jewelry offered by Nammu.

Have you ever felt moody, unhappy, depressed?  Have you ever felt you cannot organize your life or your relationships?  This could mean you have an imbalance in your Chakras and you need to heal them.  In Lapis lazuli Chakra Healing we’ll learn how to heal your Chakras and you will learn which marvelous stones are the adequate for each Chakra.

Spinning circles of energy located in the body from the Crown to the Base.  This is what we call Chakras.   There are 7 main Chakras but there are other minor Chakras in the body.  They help maintain your physical mental, emotional and spiritual balance.

Ancient and modern astrology affirms that stones have the impact on the destiny, general condition and health which are predetermined by the position of the planets and the constellations of the zodiac.

Precious and semi-precious stones affect not only the destiny of person, but also his mental and physical condition. Like human beings live and the stones emit energy, that affects people and each other. They have a strong impact on all living that surrounds them. Our favorite celestial Lapis Lazuli is not an exception. Healers, priests and royalty from different places of the world used this blue semi-precious stone which is considered one of the oldest spiritual stones known to man.

We already know that lapis lazuli is the stone of sky. It is associated with signs of the zodiac in the same way as all the other natural stones, attracts good luck, gives love.

Lapis Lazuli can eliminate the bad thoughts. It has a magical power and considered since ancient times as the stone of divine creatures. The best quality Lapis Lazuli is found in a deep blue or ultramarine colour with golden specks.

It is used by gem therapists and Indian astrologers as a substitute for blue sapphire-the gemstone of the planet Saturn-and it is also used in by Ayurveda doctors in preparing medicines. It is believed that the gemstone of friendship and truth. It was a precious and popular gemstone in ancient civilizations. Lapis Lazuli was first found in Afghanistan, where the best quality of this gemstone is available. Visit our previous posts to learn more about lapis lazuli origin.

Lapis lazuli

In the empire of Sumer, lapis lazuli  stone symbolized the goddess of fertility, carnal love, wars and dissensions Inanna (Akkadian. Ishtar), the central female deity, ruler of heaven.

The ancient Egyptians believed that the natural stone of the blue colour helps to communicate with the gods. Therefore, the vestments of high priests were dyed with the colour made on the basis of lapis lazuli powder.

In ancient times, the lapis lazuli stone according to zodiac sign in the Chinese Empire  symbolized imperial power. In India, the ritual objects were produced with this stone.

Properly selected by birthstone lapis lazuli, will help his owner to become free and strong. It promotes spiritual development of its owner.

Lapis Lazuli and Astrology

Lapis Lazuli is astrologically suitable for Taurus, Libra, Sagittarius and Capricorn. This gem attracts prosperity in the life of the owners. Success and good luck begin to accompany him and mutual love surely comes to him. It is easier to change lives for the better with lapis lazuli than without it, the stone contributes to the expansion of human’s outlook.

In ancient times, lapis lazuli jewelry with zodiac sign, received as a gift, was seen as an assurance of sincere friendship and devotion. And it is no coincidence, because the lapis lazuli symbolizes sincerity and generosity.

Energy of the stone, which affects the person makes him more humane, prone to mercifulness and helps to follow the right way.

Wearing lapis lazuli stone, you can get rid of heavy, sad thoughts, darkest memories, which evoke sadness, indifference, melancholy. In turn, lingering melancholy, depression can contribute aberration.  That’s why the doctors of the Middle Ages were convinced that the lapis lazuli could even cure madness. Because Lapis Lasuli does not work as other protective stones. It blocks the negative energy and sends it back to the source.

Taurus, Libra, Sagittarius and Capricorn need to wear a ring with a lapis lazuli. This is a great helper for pregnant women, the stone’s energy improves health, protects the fetus and eases childbirth.

Lapis Lazuli Magic

The stone Lapis Lazuli according to the zodiac sign was used in the special magical rituals, as well as to saving from death  when someone is accused of witchcraft. About the persecution of masters of magic known since antiquity, but the truly monstrous magnitude hunting reached in Western Europe XV-XVII centuries.

In the course of inquiries into a suspect with the devil’s transaction, the accused was given a chance to justify himself. He was tormented by fire or boiling water. Sometimes he had to pick up a red-hot metal cross.

It was just magic! Old books and ancient palimpsests dedicated to dark magic included a secret recipe based on alum, in which lapis lazuli’s powder was contained. If you smear the body with this brew, it will protect the skin from burns.

Shop with Nammu and enjoy the celestial beauty of this gem.

Author: Nathalie Miroshnik. Editor: Anastasiia Niesheva

Lapis lazuli designs have captivated us since antiquity, from jewelry, decorative items to paintings, this wonderful gem has always surprised us, but have you ever wondered what is the origin of lapis lazuli and how was it extracted for the first time?

Currently, lapis lazuli mining is facing a series of obstacles that have endangered its extraction in the most important deposit. If you want to know more about this process and how was discover this wonderful mineral, keep reading.

Origin

Exceptionally endowed with reserves, it is in Afghanistan, where we find the origin of the wonderful lapis lazuli, specifically to the north in the district of Kuran Wa Munjan, in the province of Badakhshan.

Fabricating the material in Lahore. People have been exploited the mines for more than 6000 years, since the first known pieces were found in the royal tombs of the dynasty founded in Ur by Mesannipada (Lower Mesopotamia), as the pieces called the standard of Ur or the lyre of the bearded bull. In addition, for 2650 BC, the lapis lazuli was quote in the famous poem called “Epic of Gilgamesh”.

The legends say that Zubaidah, wife of Harun al-Rashid, built a fortress to guard the mines.

Trade

Through the treacherous Badakhshan (Bactria), Lapis Lazuli was exported through trade routes to Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, India, China, and even to Japan.

When Mesopotamia (Iraq) and Afghanistan established the trade between in 3500 BC, the lapis lazuli was present. It continued until the third millennium, when for a period of 200 years ceased the use of lapis lazuli.

Divided into small city-states (Eridu, Ur, Uruk, Larsa, and Lagash), the summer country (2500 BC) fought constantly. The monopoly of lapis lazuli changed hands regularly.

Uses

With the discovery of the origin of lapis lazuli, we find numerous uses. Queen Pu-abi (2500 BC) in the city of Ur in the summer also used ornaments of lapis lazuli. In addition, in the royal Sumerian tombs of Ur, located near the Euphrates River in lower Iraq were found, more than 6000 beautifully executed lapis lazuli statuettes of birds, deer and rodents, as well as plates, beads and cylindrical seals.

In Susa, lapis lazuli also embellished the palace of Darius the Great (522-466 BC). So universal was its use in early times that we find engravings on cylindrical stamps and other forms of primitive jewelry between Babylon and Assyria.

Another of the great civilizations that widely used lapis lazuli was Egyptian. There were discovered in the pyramids of Dashour (burial sites) dating back to 3000 BC, thousands of jewelry items, many of lapis lazuli. The lapis lazuli powder was favored by the Egyptian ladies as a cosmetic eyeshadow. In addition, years later, people used as a pigment. Do not miss our next post about Lapis Lazuli Color: Ultramarine.

Mining

The first recognized geographer who visited the mines was the medieval Persian Estakhri in the X century. The famous archaeologist Georgina Herrmann noted that there are four mines located in Chilmak, Shaga-Darraii-Rabat-i-Paskaren, Stromby and also in Sar-e- Sang at altitudes ranging from 1830 to 5180 meters. The Sar-e-Sang mine is the only mine that works today.

The miners accept seven mines located between Sar-e-Sang, named from one to seven. The best quality lapis lazuli comes from mine number four.

The extraction process of this mineral was the same from its origin in the prehistoric period until the 19th century. In the 1900s, dynamite was introduced into the mining process. From 1800, most of this process was described by Lieutenant John Wood, who was sent by his boss Alexander Burnes to Central Asia where Russia, China and British India were in an uncomfortable proximity, to investigate all possible Invasion routes from Central Asia (mostly by the Russians) to India.

Wood arrived at the Sar-i-Sang mines (there you find the best quality lapis lazuli), where the Kokcha valley shrinks to a width of barely 200 meters. At that time there was a complex of six mines (now several of them in disuse). The mines were excavated like a cave in the mountain at five hundred meters along a steep and dangerous path. The roofs did not have support, and could collapse at any time.

For centuries, these mines were the only source of lapis lazuli. The deposits are in the Tirich Mir massif of 7780 meters, in the Liazur Diaria valley. The material extracted in the deposit at a height of 5000 meters was concentrated in Firgamu, and from there according to two routes, it was distributed. The first descended by the rivers to Samarkand and Merv in Turkestan. The second crossed the mountain range by the pass of Mandal and by Chitral it descended to the valley of the Indus.

Much later in the Chilean Andes at more than 4000 meters high, a second deposit was found, in the Ovalle mountain range, in the province of Coquimbo; however at present only 2% of the mineral extracted from Flor de Los Andes is first quality.

All the deposits present the common problem of not being able to be exploited with assiduity, since by being located at high altitude (something common of all of them), the extraction only occurs during the summer season.

Miners

The miners lived in stone huts at the foot of the “blue mountain” and climbed the steep slope towards the mines. There were a series of corridors and caves, joined by narrow, dark passages, often only suitable for tracking. The miners came from all over the country. They were poor, poorly paid and went hungry.

Winter was the main season for extraction, especially because there was no work to be done in the fields.

Currently it is the other way around. The three short months of summer make it the main extraction season. It is when the steps are clear and the miners can carry it out. The neighbors of the valley of Chitral speak of the regular caravans of summer in mule and of men that are loaded wiht lapis lazuli who leave the mountains to the plains.

Extraction

The miners had a dangerous job. They worked on their knees and lit fires with wood to soften the rock. They had to transport the wood from a considerable distance, since there was nothing in the area.

The rock is very hard to find, but when they did, they separated the surrounding rocks and Lapis Lazuli minerals by drilling a hole in the wall. Inside the hole, they placed a pile of hot coals and covered them with the remaining stones. Lapis lazuli is also heat resistant so the other rocks warmed while the lapis lazuli maintained a certain temperature.

The fire was extinguished it with cold water (also carried from the bottom) and the sudden cooling caused the rock to break and caused excess rocks and debris to fall from Lapis Lazuli. The miners then hit the big pieces with hammers, so that the stone would come off.

Today

The mining process today is just as dangerous due to the dynamite they use. There is no kind of security procedure such as helmets or glasses. The miners penetrate deep into the mountain along low and narrow passages, place their explosives, ignite fuses and make a run for the exit before the explosion fills the corridor with rocks and dust.

They wait for the dust to settle and then they go to collect what has fallen. After the mines explode, the miners put lapis lazuli blocks in a backpack. This is a very dangerous trip, since the mountain is almost vertical.

Lapis lazuli transportation lasts about nine days. Each mule carries approximately 40kg. A large quantity of this material arrives in western Pakistan. The mujahideen charge a tax that can be up to 50% and the Pakistani government charges taxes at the border near Gharam Chashma that is usually 20%.

Lapis lazuli is in three Persian colors: Nili (dark blue), assemani (pale blue) and sabz (blue-green).

Afghan fortune hunters pay the mujahideen for mine rights, but local workers do the real work. After recovering their investment from the sale of lapis lazuli, investors often divide the profit with the miners.

Current situation

Conflict mineral

From the origin of lapis lazuli, we discover that he has been involved in different conflicts. Moreover, the situation is not different today. While Afghanistan has the world’s largest reserves of lapis lazuli (of the best quality), the country barely receives benefit from this immense wealth.

In 2016, the report from NGO Global Witness about the conflict with the mineral put the country in the international spotlight. They launched a campaign to declare lapis lazuli a “conflict mineral”. The report stated that the mining area of northern Badakhshan, was “deeply destabilized” by a violent competition for control of the mines, between local strongmen, lawmakers and the Taliban. The president of Afghanistan joined this campaign.

The person in charge of the study warns, “The mines produce a tiny fraction of the benefit that should have an impact on the country’s wealth, and they have become instead a source of conflict and instability that could have global consequences”. He adds, “Unless they act quickly, these mines will not only represent a missed opportunity, but a global threat to the future”.

The hope for the economic growth of the country and its independence from international aid lies in the estimated $1 million of mineral reserves that could generate $2bn of annual revenues.

Business War 

Is not an ideological fight it is a business war. In this war, the Taliban are in control of most of the income from the mines, being their second source of income behind the drugs.

The greed for the mines has triggered a series of violent incidents in Badakhshan. It has put an entire district without government control for two years. Abuse around the mines, especially the lack of benefits for the local people has created significant support for Malek’s takeover of the Lapis Lazuli mines.

The same goes for the Taliban. People support them to take revenge on the government. The Taliban have infiltrated Badakhshan much more than they did at the height of their power in the 1990s. There are also credible indications that mines are a strategic priority for the Islamic State in Badakhshan.

The Ministry of Mines cannot give complete information on the income and production of Lapis Lazuli. Zulmai Mujadidi and Commander Malek have links with high-level politicians.

There is no real control, most of the stone is exported to China and with prices that reach up to €1,200 per kilo of scale one minerals (there are 12 scales to measure the quality of the precious stone). Is also exported, a part of the extraction, to Pakistan and to a minor extent to India, where there is no type of control to certify the origin of the material.

The lapis lazuli route begins in the Afghan capital, Kabul, where merchants buy the stone in metal boxes. From there they travel to Peshawar (Pakistan) to return to export precious stones to Chinese cities such as Hong Kong. The illegality of the process has made a market of contraband and bribes flourish quickly.

Production

The lapis lazuli lies at the center of a very competitive market, especially for the locals who extract the rock in Afghanistan, who often die for access to the Lapis Lazuli deposits. In fact, in many places the extraction of stone was until recently illegal. Due to controversies and secrecy regarding extraction practices, the locations and richness of Lapis Lazuli deposits, exact production numbers and reserve sizes are difficult to estimate.

Afghanistan has captivated and benefited the whole world with the most beautiful lapis lazuli since ancient times, that is why I sincerely believe, dear reader, that the time has come for the people of this beautiful country to receive the benefit of the immense wealth they possess. What do you think? Leave us your comments on this topic, and subscribe here for more content like this.

Being exquisite and magical has its price.  The Lapis Lazuli has been one of the most used materials in jewelry for thousands of years and therefore, it is no coincidence that it has become one of the most counterfeit stones in the world.  It’s not easy to tell the difference between fake lapis and the real gemstone.  Each day the imitations are becoming better. So, how to tell if Lapis Lazuli is real?

Imitation Lapis Lazuli is very common.  In more recent times large volumes of synthetically produced lapis have flooded the market place.  The imitation techniques are getting better each day.  Some of it is such a good quality that it is hard to tell apart from the real thing.

Many cheap minerals and gemstones can be dyed to imitate lapis.  Poor quality jasper, white howlite, spinel, sodalite or calcite can be used for this purpose.

How To Tell If Lapis Lazuli Is Real

The best way to detect fake lapis is by only looking at it.  Although you probably better be an expert because the imitations are so good that you can be easily fooled.

Primary Test

Magnification will reveal a totally unnatural appearance to this material.  Here is where you’ll see the perfect golden specks patterns the fakes have.  The flat blue and the white streaks when scratched will also be present.

Lapis has that intense deep dark blue (ultramarine) color.  It is like looking into a well of water.  The fake looks flat dark blue.  Only the very best top quality lapis is a uniform blue color with virtually no fool’s gold.  This lapis is incredibly rare deeply sought after and costs a fortune.  This is the type of lapis you only see set into the finest 18k or 22k gold settings.

Price

Top quality Lapis Lazuli is not cheap.  When you find jewelry of lapis that you think is a bargain you better check it properly. Usually, a natural lapis lazuli necklace of good quality is above 40 USD.

Descriptive Gemstone Names

Descriptive names are sometimes used before the gemstones name.  For example, Oriental Emerald, which is in fact a green sapphire.  An American Ruby is a garnet.  Australian Jade is quartz that’s been treated.  Always question the authenticity of any gemstone that’s advertised with an extra descriptive name.  Some Lapis Lazuli examples:

Swiss Lapis: is really chalcedony or dyed jasper

German Lapis: is in fact dyed jasper

Canadian Lapis: is sodalite

White

When the stone has too much white it means it’s classed as a cheaper calcite.  If it has too much dark blue-gray it means it’s a cheaper Sodalite.

Sodalite is a semi-precious stone.  Its color varies from a pale blue-grey (common) to quite deep royal blue (rare).  Sodalite does not reach the true ultramarine color of lapis.  One of the components of Lapis Lazuli is Sodalite.

Dye

Other kind of imitation is by dyeing the stone.  Forgers also use similar stones or Lapis Lazuli of 3erd quality to dye it and make top quality imitation Lapis.  To test if your lapis has been dyed wipe your stone with acetone or alcohol.  If it looses its color it’s either a fake or a poor quality lapis.

Taiwan is the top center for dyeing stones.

Secondary Test

Natural Lapis Lazuli will have a reaction to the Chelsea Filter.  The Chelsea Filter is a dichromatic filter.  It can only transmit light in 2 regions of the spectrum, deep red and yellow-green.  Genuine Lapis Lazuli will react with a weak brownish red and the synthetic lapis will react with a bright red color.

Fools Gold

Natural lapis have silver or gold particles that shine which are seen inside the stone.  This effect is real difficult to imitate and is a good indicator that it is real lapis.  Nowadays some good quality fakes are showing this feature also.  Although it usually ends up looking too uniform and too perfect for it to be real.

Hardness

Real Lapis Lazuli is around 5.5 on the MOHS Gemstone Hardness scale.  So you have an idea of the hardness keep in mind that diamonds are 10 in the scale.

Reconstruction

Forgers also use a technique of reconstruction.  They collect all the leftover bit of lazuli gemstone and they make a new stone or bead by grinding them and binding them together.  It’s made of lapis so technically it’s not a fake but it’s not the true thing either.  This lapis stone has an unnatural pebble dash feel and look to it.

Composite Gemstones

They are made from a small piece of a desirable, genuine stone that’s combined with an inexpensive or imitation gemstone to make the real thing appear larger or to enhance its appearance.  Opal jewelry is often with composites.  Doublets are composite stones made with a large, inexpensive chunk of material, sometimes an inexpensive mineral, that’s topped by a thin slice of the gemstone it’s meant to represent.

The division usually isn’t obvious until you look at the piece under a loupe.

One type of doublet is assembled by sandwiching a colored bonding agent between two clear, inexpensive stones-the added hue makes it look like a colored gemstone.

Triplets are composites that are constructed in three parts instead of two.

Synthetic

A synthetic gemstone shares a natural stone’s physical, chemical and optical qualities, but it is created in a laboratory.  You’ll see synthetic versions of nearly all popular gemstones and many versions have been available for many years.  Older synthetics were fairly simple for gemstones to detect because they were often too perfect.  Some modern synthetic gemstones look more natural and are harder to identify.

Jewelry that includes quality synthetic gems can be just as beautiful as jewelry made with natural stones.  Good synthetics aren´t always inexpensive, but should cost much less than natural stones of similar size and quality.

Since synthetic gemstones have the same composition as their natural counterparts, they could technically be called genuine.  It would be considered deceptive labeling if the stone’s origins are not disclosed.

Simulated

Unlike synthetic gemstones, simulated stones are in no way similar to the natural stone they are imitating.  Their chemical composition is not the same nor are other gem qualities like refractive index.

Plastic Artificial Lapis Lazuli

Can be spotted by tapping it on your teeth.  Plastic will feel almost warm and not cold like glass or a gemstone.  It will also make a dull quiet clink when gently tapped against your teeth.

Temperature

Imitations are cold as most of gemstones.  The difference is that they quickly warm up when held and real gemstones will stay cold.  Glass Artificial Lapis Lazuli has no gold specks although some top quality copies like Gilson Glass Lazuli does.  Here the specks are too smooth and also too uniformly patterned to be real and the blue color is to even.

Physical Evidence

Real Lapis Lazuli will leave a blueish mark on a rough surface.  It also emits a foul odor when it’s cut in half.  The sulfur in it smells with air contact.

Repair and Settings

You have to take the same precautions with the fake lapis as you do with the original lapis.  No cleaners as the stones are very porous and will soak up cleaners.  No heating in ultrasonic or by torch.

Fakes

Gilson Lapis
Synthetics made by Pierre Gilson of France. They are much softer than the original Lapis.

Synthetic Lapis
It consists of grainy blue spinel colored by cobalt oxide and gold flakes to resemble pyrite.  This material is also much harder which makes it easier to distinguish.

Reconstructed Lapis
Tiny chips of lapis and pyrite cemented together the same way reconstructed turquoise is made.

Dyed Lapis
A good quality of lesser quality lapis is dyed to improve the blue tone.  Once the stone is dyed it is often oiled or waxed to improve luster.

Dyed Howlite
White howlite is dyed to create a lapis substitute.  The dye tends to fade and there are also no pyrite inclusions.

Mountain Jade Lapis
This stone is not Jade or Lapis.  It is a dolomite marble dyed bright blue.  This is another stone that the color fades and there are also no inclusions of pyrite.

German Lapis
It is also called Swiss Lapis.  It’s blue dyed jasper that is also lacking in pyrite inclusions.

Misidentifications

Sodalite

Sodalite is also actually more indigo than lapis and also lacks pyrite.  Another way to tell the difference is a streak test.  Lapis has a light blue streak while Sodalite has a white streak.

Azurite

Azurite usually forms crusts along side malachite.  It is also much darker and also much softer than lapis.  It is only 3.5-4 on the scale.

Dumortierite

It’s a darker Indigo than lapis and also lacks the pyrite inclusions.

Why should anyone go to so much trouble to make Lapis Lazuli replicas?  Ancient imitations of lapis were made because the real stone, required for various sacred purposes such as a passport to the underworld, was either unobtainable or too expensive.  Although more recent fakes are also made with all the artistry available to the arch forger, to satisfy the demand of greedy, often gullible, collectors.

Replicas of ancient jewels are made for people like me, who find an intrinsic beauty in the real object and can find it still in the copy.  There is also a market for what I would call legitimate replicas.  They are replicas of beautiful ancient objects made of lapis which most of the time are found in museums.  The only way for a someone like me to enjoy one of these objects is to acquire an imitation.

Color Imitation

The imitations do not stay with the objects, but also with the pigments.  The desire to find a substitute for lapis led to the development of substances of similar colors. This led to “Faience” and also to to the first synthetic pigment “Egyptian Blue”.  In both cases copper sulfate was mixed with soda ash, then kiln-made or produced by boiling in a furnace.  Much of the Egyptian artifacts were made with Egyptian Blue.

Faking is not an exclusively Egyptian speciality; the forgers of elaborate antiquities  (Mesopotamian lapis seals for instance) are just as likely today to be Chinese or European.

Some people say that there is no reason to avoid fake gems, what you Do want to avoid is paying too much for misrepresented jewelry.

In Idar-Oberstein there is a an imitation so sophisticated that is difficult to describe the substance as imitation.  Its name is Galalith. It is formed by casein protein in cow´s milk.It was discovered in the 1890´s by Wilhelm Krische but was introduced to the jewel industry by  Jacob Bengel  in 1870.  He soon realized there was a fortune to be made with galalith in the newly fashionable costume jewelry.

When beautiful things exist, there will always be people trying to imitate it.  The world is said to be full with fakes.  Always be careful when you buy Lapis Lazuli.  Try always to acquire it in reliable stores like my favorite Nammu store.

Original article: Roberto Ramirez – Adaptation: Rut Rodriguez