Lapis Lazuli (blue stone) is a semiprecious stone composed of at least 14 different minerals, most prominent of which are: lazurite, giving it its characteristic blue color; wallostonite and calcite, which are responsible for the streaks of gray and white; and pyrite, that gives it its golden highlights.

HISTORY AND MEANING

The intense and exclusive blue color of lapis lazuli has always been a symbol for purity, health, elegance, luck and nobility. It is for this reason that this splendid semi-precious stone has been used by man for more than 6000 years to highlight its creations.

The Sumerians, Babylonians, Syrians and Egyptians gave splendor to their best jewels, by using lapis lazuli mined in Afghanistan, from the same mine that is still exploited today.

In some Biblical verses the stone is described as a sapphire. The Greeks also attributed to the stone healing properties against fevers and melancholy. The Egyptian Pharaohs used lapis lazuli in their thrones and funeral masks; Cleopatra used its dust as eye-make up; the Buddhists attributed to it peace of mind; the Chinese added it to their garments and hair ornaments, assuring that the stone brought them health and good luck.

During the Renaissance period, lapis lazuli powder has also been used as a fade resistant blue pigment. Leonardo da Vinci, Fra Angelico and Albrecht Dürer, among others, used the "blue gold" for their most valuable paintings. In those times, its value per gram was equal to that of gold. By the end of the 18th Century, Carl Fabergé added lapis lazuli to his most precious jewel creations, and recently, Paloma Picasso included it in hers.

In the Americas, the Incas, Molles, Diaguitas and other pre-Columbian cultures have, for ever 2000 years, used lapis lazuli to ornament masks and other artifacts. This was done by extracting the stone from the same deposit located at 3600 meters above-sea-level in the Andes Mountains in the area of Ovalle, Chile, and which today is named LAS FLORES DE LOS ANDES S.A.