Lazurite

Item Description

It's not easy to find well-crystallized examples of Lazurite in nature that are more than a few mm. The finest quality and most well-known examples of the species are those from Afghanistan. These beautiful crystals have been mined for thousands of years, but weren't identified as a mineral species, as they were a component of the stone Lapis Lazuli. The earliest reference I can find for Lazurite dates back to 1869 according to mindat.org, but the material has been known for literally thousands of years. This piece features a good sized, sharp, dodecahedron of dark blue Lazurite measuring 3.3 cm across on marble matrix. There is one smaller Lazurite on the piece for a nice touch. It should be noted that over the last several years, Lazurite was discredited as a valid mineral species, and was being classified as a sulfide-bearing variety of Hauyne. Thankfully in 2021, Lazurite was reinstated, so we can now resume labeling all of our Lazurite specimens accurately. It is incredibly difficult to find large, attractive, isolated crystals such as this from any world locality. The piece is not repaired, but the main Lazurite has a small nick on the top corner, as the side/back is contacted where it was separated from the pocket wall. A nice example of this classic and fine quality material from Afghanistan. From the collection of Carl Acosta, by way of the Ernest Webber collection.