7mm Lapis Lazuli round bead necklace of fine natural blue, from the ancient mines of this gemstone rock in the rugged remote regions of north-east Afghanistan.
Lapis Lazuli is one of the only two rocks in the gemstone world, the other being Turquoise; the vast majority of gemstones are crystalline, with some, like Pearl and Coral and Amber, classified as “organics”. Lapis is found in commercial quantities in only a few places in the world, one being Afghanistan, another Chile. The Chilean deposits were found in relatively recent times, commercial mining begun in the first half of the 1900s. The Afghanistan source region, however, has been exploited for thousands of years, and was the only known source of the gemstone for all those thousands of years.
The Afghanistan source region for Lapis is Badakhshan, a most remote area in the very north-east corner of the country, up near the Tajikistan border, a very rugged area which would never have been easy of access. And yet, Lapis was used in the Pharaonic courts of Ancient Egypt three thousand five hundred years ago. What a journey from Badakhshan to Thebes that long ago!

The above 7mm Lapis bead strand is professionally strung in Sydney on multi-strand blue silk, knotted throughout, with seven Italian-made 9ct Gold fluted beads around the front, 9ct Gold end rings and 9ct Gold spring clasp.
44cms total necklace length.