Everything about lapis lazuli

What is lapis lazuli?

Lapis lazuli is a blue stone best known historically from Afghanistan. The stone was already used in antiquity for jewellery, amulets, inlay and works of art. Its deep blue colour made lapis lazuli highly valuable for centuries.

The blue colour is mainly due to lazurite. White or light grey areas are often calcite, while golden speckles are usually pyrite. It is precisely this combination that makes lapis lazuli recognisable, but also less predictable in a rock tumbler or polishing barrel.

Is lapis lazuli suitable for a rock tumbler?

Lapis lazuli can be polished in a rock tumbler, but it is not an ideal stone for beginners. The stone is softer than classic tumbler stones and often contains several minerals in one piece. As a result, the outcome can vary. Pieces with a lot of calcite, in particular, may wear differently from the deep blue areas.

If you want to tumble lapis lazuli, do not mix it with hard stones such as agate, jasper or quartz. Those are clearly harder and can damage lapis lazuli. It is better to use lapis lazuli on its own or together with stones of a similar hardness.

• Do not mix with hard stones: agate, jasper and quartz can damage lapis lazuli.
• Choose compact pieces: avoid crumbly pieces with lots of loose edges.
• Pay attention to white veins: calcite sections may wear down faster than blue sections.
• Check regularly: lapis lazuli can lose material faster than harder stones.
• Use suitable steps: grit that is too aggressive or tumbling for too long can make the result worse.

Important: for a first batch, agate, jasper or quartz are usually safer and more predictable. Lapis lazuli is especially interesting if you already have some experience with softer stone types.

Polishing lapis lazuli: what should you look out for?

Because lapis lazuli is softer and more mixed than many other tumbler stones, you need to work carefully. A standard schedule for hard stones is not always ideal. Coarse grit in particular can quickly remove a lot of material or wear softer parts unevenly.

Practical: if you want an easy start with stone polishing, then take a look at the category rough stones for rock tumblers and choose harder, more compact stones first.

Polishing lapis lazuli in steps

You cannot always treat lapis lazuli as if it were agate or quartz. Work more slowly and check more often. Do not use a batch with many harder stones. Below is a cautious starting point.

Note: lapis lazuli can polish beautifully, but the final result is less predictable than with hard, compact stones such as agate and jasper.

Different types and qualities of lapis lazuli

Lapis lazuli varies greatly in colour, composition and quality. Those differences matter for jewellery, but also if you plan to tumble it. Deep blue, compact pieces are usually more attractive than pieces with a lot of white calcite.

Lapis lazuli, sodalite and azurite

Lapis lazuli is sometimes confused with other blue stones, such as sodalite or azurite. They may look similar in colour, but they are different stone types with different properties. For jewellery, collecting and tumbling, that difference matters.

What is lapis lazuli used for?

Lapis lazuli has been used for thousands of years for jewellery, beads, amulets, mosaics and decorative objects. Historically, the stone was also ground into blue pigment. That pigment was known as ultramarine and was used in painting.

Today, lapis lazuli is mainly sold as an ornamental stone, tumbler stone, pendant, bead, cabochon or collector’s stone. For attractive pieces, the general rule is: the deeper the blue and the less distracting white calcite there is, the more attractive the stone usually is.

Does lapis lazuli occur in the Netherlands?

Lapis lazuli does not occur in Dutch mines and is not extracted here as a local stone type. So if you buy lapis lazuli in the Netherlands, it is almost always imported material. Well-known source regions include Afghanistan, Chile, Russia, Canada and the United States.

In the Netherlands you may find other blue stones or minerals, but that is not the same as lapis lazuli. If you want to search for stones yourself, also read the page which stones can you find in the Netherlands and Belgium.

Buy lapis lazuli or keep it as a collector’s stone?

Beautiful lapis lazuli is often more valuable as an ornamental stone or collector’s piece than as random tumbler material. In particular, deep blue pieces with fine pyrite speckles are sometimes better kept, cut or worked than put into a rough mixed tumbler batch.