Welcome to my May newsletter! I hope you enjoy reading!

​

Barbara Kay Jewelry News

We are in the middle of spring, my favorite time of year. It seems as though every day brings new blossoms and emerging plants. This planting and growing season finds me spending as much time outside as it does in the studio, so I'm not moving ahead as quickly as I might with new projects.

The time I have had in the studio since participating in the La Center Art Fair (which was a lot of fun!), has been spent on cleaning up, organizing and getting ready to be creative again. I've organized all of my cabochons by color. I do it differently every time I decide to re-organize but this might be the method I'll keep! While going through them, I pulled a few out that spoke to me and that I plan to use in some of my next projects. Here they are - what do you see in them? I'd be curious to know if you see the same things I see.

I also have a few things that were in progress before the fair that I will be finishing up before I start on my new designs. Here are the cuffs I'm working on - they should be finished and ready to show you in the next issue:

Finally, a reminder: My next confirmed show is the Vancouver Art and Music Festival in Esther Short Park (Vancouver, WA) during the first weekend of August. This was such a wonderful three day show last year. The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra put on a terrific concert, as did a number of other performers. There are so many activities set up for kids and families, and of course I will be there with a lot of other artists showing our hand made items. If you are local, put it on your calendar!!

Stone of the Month: The Royal Lapis Lazuli

Lapis Lazuli

Lapis Lazuli has been a popular gemstone for over 6,500 years; it is one of the oldest gemstones we have records of. The ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome and China all treasured this royal blue stone. Because it was so revered, and was primarily mined in one place in a region of what is now known as Afghanistan, historians have been able to reconstruct ancient trade routes based on where it was sold and used. Marco Polo mentioned the primary lapis mine in 1271 but due to its difficult terrain few other outsiders ever saw it.

The name Lapis Lazuli means “stone from the sky” (lapis is Latin for stone; lazulum is Latin for heaven or sky). The heavenly blue color is of course what has drawn people to this stone over the centuries. Royalty, including Sumerian kings and Egyptian pharaohs, wore lapis lazuli jewelry. Egyptian judges wore emblems of Maat (goddess of truth) made of lapis. Seal cylinders were carved from the stone and used to impress official marks on clay tablets. Lapis leant itself to being carved; sculptures, fetishes and even game boards and pieces have been found.

The stone was not only used as jewelry, sculpture and seals. It was used in ancient Egypt to create blue cosmetics. During the Renaissance, painters ground it up to make the paint color ultramarine. The name ultramarine means “beyond the sea”; the color was given that name because lapis lazuli came from far across the sea from Europe. The process of making the paint was long and labor intensive, which made this color one of the most expensive; painters were sparing of its use.

Unlike many of the stones we’ve explored in this newsletter, Lapis Lazuli is not a mineral; it is a rock made up of multiple minerals. The color comes primarily from the mineral lazurite which makes up from 25 to 40% of the stone’s composition; in fact, a stone must have at least 25% lazurite for it to be called Lapis Lazuli. Other minerals found in the stone include pyrite, calcite and sodalite, as well as possibly other trace minerals.

Pyrite can be seen most often, sometimes appearing as gold or silvery sparkles, and sometimes as veins or larger patches against the blue. Calcite, a white mineral, may be visible or not. It may appear as white spots or patches, or it may be so finely interwoven with the lazurite that the stone becomes a somewhat faded blue. This is often called denim lapis, as the color is reminiscent of blue jean material. Sodalite may also be present, showing as light blue patches in the deeper blue of lazurite.

Lapis Lazuli is a metamorphic rock. This means it began as a different type of rock which metamorphosed, or changed, due to temperature, pressure and/or chemical reactions.

Lapis began millions of years ago when sediments rich in calcite and pyrite settled and became compacted. Over a long period of time, these compacted sediments became limestone and marble.

Geological changes such as shifting tectonic plates and the rising up of mountains added intense heat and pressure which ultimately led to the limestone and marble becoming Lapis Lazuli. In particular, extreme heat caused the calcite to recrystallize into lazurite, which gave the stone its blue color. The other minerals such as pyrite and sodalite formed during this process as well.

As you can imagine, Lapis Lazuli requires very specific geological conditions to form, and is therefore found only in a few places in the world. The oldest known Lapis Lazuli mine which provided lapis to many ancient cultures and which is still operating, is in Afghanistan. The stone has also, more recently, been found in Siberia and Chile. Small amounts can be found in a few other places including Colorado and California in the US. Afghanistan Lapis is still considered the highest quality.

The quality grading of Lapis Lazuli is determined by a few different things. Color is most important. The best quality examples show a deep, rich and fairly uniform blue. Some flecks of gold colored pyrite is acceptable and sometimes even desired in high quality pieces. Too much pyrite, and patches of calcite lower the grade. The highest quality lapis has no visible calcite. For this reason, inferior lapis is sometimes dyed to cover up visible patches of white calcite. I personally like the glitter of pyrite, and even appreciate the white spots of calcite as it offers a nice contrast with the blue. The small ring you see in the pictures below features a lapis lazuli cabochon with quite a bit of calcite showing. While not considered high quality by lapis lazuli aficionados, I like it for the effect it gives of clouds against a deep blue summer sky.

Lapis Lazuli is beautiful in jewelry; it is especially lovely with silver. It is a medium soft stone, and can be scratched by harder stones or metals. So some care should be given when wearing it, especially in a ring or bracelet. As with all jewelry, avoid exposing it to harsh chemicals (including household chemicals), extreme temperatures and even too much sunlight (most gemstones prefer not being in the sun for long periods of time). You can clean it with a mild soap and soft cloth rather than a brush.

Lapis Lazuli was one of the two traditional birthstones for December; turquoise was the second.

I currently have just a few pieces of Lapis Lazuli jewelry in my shop, but hope to add more soon!

​

Afghanite:

Before ending this article – and this newsletter - I do want to add just a bit of information about another blue stone that comes out of Afghanistan. It is, in fact, called Afghanite. I won’t go into too much detail about this stone, but thought it might interest you since it does have some similarities to Lapis Lazuli. It can also be found in the same region as Lapis – as well as in a few other parts of the world. It has quite a range of blue colors: very pale almost colorless blue to a deep sapphire like blue. It wasn’t actually found until 1968, and is considered a rare gemstone.

Afghanite is a mineral, unlike Lapis. The blue color is primarily caused by inclusions of chromium and vanadium, rather than lazulite. It is also generally more translucent than Lapis, which means it is often faceted as a gemstone. I have never seen an actual example of Afghanite and in fact had never even heard of it until I started researching Lapis Lazuli. At this point, I’d love to add a few pieces to my cabochon collection! If that happens, I may give it some more space in a future article.

The next issue of this newsletter will feature Moonstone and Labradorite. If there are other types of stones you’d like to learn more about, please let me know!

Lapis Lazuli and Afghanite sources used:

GIA (Gemstone Institute of America) - Lapis Lazuli History and Lore: https://www.gia.edu/lapis-lazuli-history-lore​

IGS (International Gemstone Society) - Lapis Lazuli Value, Price and Jewelry Information: https://www.gemsociety.org/article/lapis-lazuli-jewelry-and-gemstone-information/​

Geology Science - Lapis Lazuli: https://geologyscience.com/minerals/silicates-minerals/lapis-lazuli/​

Rock Your World - About Lapis Lazuli: https://www.rockyourworldgems.com/pages/about-lapis-lazuli​

Geology Science - Afghanite: https://geologyscience.com/gemstone/afghanite/​

Gemstones.com - Afghanite: https://www.gemstones.com/gemopedia/afghanite​

I would love to hear from you. Let me know what you think, and what you’d like to see in future newsletters.