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Lapis Lazuli Bracelets
Lapis lazuli is a gemstone of
the kind that might have come straight out of the Arabian Nights: a deep blue with golden inclusions of pyrites which shimmer
like little stars.
This opaque, deep blue gemstone has a grand past. It was among the first gemstones to be worn
as jewellery and worked on. At excavations in the ancient centres of culture around the Mediterranean, archaeologists have
again and again found among the grave furnishings decorative chains and figures made of lapis lazuli – clear indications
that the deep blue stone was already popular thousands of years ago among the people of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Persia, Greece
and Rome. It is said that the legendary city of Ur on the Euphrates plied a keen lapis lazuli trade as long ago as the fourth
millennium B.C., the material coming to the land of the two great rivers from the famous deposits in Afghanistan. In other
cultures, lapis lazuli was regarded as a holy stone. Particularly in the Middle East, it was thought to have magical powers.
Countless signet rings, scarabs and figures were wrought from the blue stone which Alexander the Great brought to Europe.
There, the colour was referred to as 'ultramarine', which means something like 'from beyond the sea'.
The euphonious name is composed
from 'lapis', the Latin word for stone, and 'azula', which comes from the Arabic and means blue. All right, so it's a blue
gemstone - but what an incredible blue! The worth of this stone to the world of art is immeasurable, for the ultramarine of
the Old Masters is nothing other than genuine lapis lazuli. Ground up into a powder and stirred up together with binding-agents,
the marble-like gemstone can be used to manufacture radiant blue watercolours, tempera or oil-paints. Before the year 1834,
when it became possible to produce this colour synthetically, the only ultramarine available was that valuable substance made
from genuine lapis lazuli that shines out at us from many works of art today. Many pictures of the Madonna, for example, were
created using this paint. But in those days, ultramarine blue was not only precious and so intense that its radiance outshone
all other colours; it was also very expensive. But unlike all other blue pigments, which tend to pale in the light, it has
lost none of its radiance to this very day. Nowadays, the blue pigment obtained from lapis lazuli is mainly used in restoration
work and by collectors of historical paints.
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Beautiful sterling silver bracelet created in my studio with a 17x21 oval cabochon of dark blue Afghani lapis lazuli.
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Nice bracelet with lapis chips and pearlescent light blue seed beads accentuated by metallic dark blue bugle beads and
silvery lead crystal beads flanking a 6mm round lapis as a centerpiece. There's also a clear quartz charm hanging from
the clasp.
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Very cool bracelet with light and dark blue seed beadds with silver bead accents and an 8mm round lapi bead as a centerpiece
flanked by imported glass beads and two metallic blue Austrian lead crystal beads, and a sodalite charm.
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Light blue pearly seed beads with small dark blue pony beads and golden opalescent seed bead accents. The center
of this magnificent bracelet is a bunch of polished lapis lazuli chips with a clear quartz charm hanging from the clasp.
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Lots of Lapis chips and light blue seed beads dominate this lovely little bracelet with dark blue seed beads for contrast
and a sodalite charm hanging from the clasp.
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