Handcut Lapis Lazuli, natural deep blue fine gemstone colour, origin the rugged north-east mountainous region of Afghanistan, ancient source of this fabled gemstone, in Silver eardrop settings specifically handcrafted for this Handcut Lapis buff polished half-ovoid pair.

Until a large Lapis Lazuli deposit was discovered in Chile in the late 1800s (commercial exploitation began in the early 1900s), Afghanistan was the only source, period, of gemstone Lapis Lazuli. The Lapis used by the artesans of the Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt in inlay work and the carving of scarab amulets all originated in Afghanistan. (Imagine the stages of its transport, as rough gemstone rock, from up by Tajikistan down and across into Ancient Persia, down through Mesopotamia and across into Ancient Egypt, four thousand years ago,  by donkey and camel, on-selling from trader to trader, caravanserai to caravanserai: fabulous tales.)

The deep natural blue of the above eardrop pair is of the superior quality used to create the pigment called “ultramarine”, a pigment much favoured by renaissance artists like Titian and Michelangelo.