30x12mm Matched Lapis Lazuli Oblongs, hand-cut side by side from the same block of Lapis gemstone rock, and one can see when the two oblongs are laid down together, the flow of the Pyrites inclusions from one oblong to the other.
This Lapis gemstone rock has its origin in the harsh terrain of Afghanistan’s north-east, source of Lapis Lazuli since antiquity. In the mid 1970s it was possible to simply wander in off the street and pay a visit to Kabul’s main assay office for Lapis Lazuli, where one would stroll from room to room, each with numerous Russian-made large safes, open, each full of fist-sized or two-fist-sized blue rocks of Lapis Lazuli displaying a particular grade based on colour, with some in one room displaying Lapis rock of truly remarkable ultramarine blue.
On a scale of one to ten, the Lapis in the above earrings would be approximately Grade V1.