Lapis lazuli

Lapis lazuli has been greatly valued as a decorative stone since deep antiquity. In the past it was also used to make the precious and exceptionally enduring pigment ultramarine.

The finest examples of the stone have a dark blue colour. The colouring is rarely even. More often there are white and blue patches and layers, forming a mottled appearance.

Lapis lazuli is divided into three sorts by colour. The best is a dense dark blue, then come light blue with inclusions and greenish-blue.