Natural Blue Afghani Lapis Lazuli, Silver & Gold ring. Lapis has been a favoured gemstone for thousands and thousands of years, and all the time, up to a little over one hundred years ago when commercial quantities of the gemstone were discovered in Chile, its only source was the inhospitable wilds of north-east Afghanistan. Still today, the natural blue of Afghani Lapis Lazuli is rated superior, for its colour tends to be a deeper “ultramarine”; the deep blue of the gemstone, crushed and mixed, produces the most costly of all oil paint colours.
The untreated natural blue of the above Afghani Lapis Lazuli cabochon is included with “gold” pyrites; the inclusion of pyrites is considered a characteristic of Afghani Lapis.
Note: the cost component of the Sydney handcraftsmanship in creating the Silver setting for this unique gemstone, with its four flanking solid 9ct Gold granules and its perfectly neat integration into the three-band ring, constitutes over 80% of the retail of the above ring, virtually all of it in labour at the jewellery bench. This is a major argument against creating fine items in Australia; the other side of the coin is the above ring: well-made, sturdy, unique and good looking.