Lazurite (excellent sharp crystals)

Item Description

The finest quality and most well-known examples of Lazurite in the world are those from Afghanistan. The crystals almost certainly have been found for thousands of years, but were never identified as a mineral species. The earliest reference I can find for the species dates back to 1869 according to mindat.org. The mineral is actually the blue part of the stone Lapis Lazuli. This piece features a good sized, very sharp, notably well-formed, dodecahedron of dark blue Lazurite measuring 2.2 cm with a few smaller accenting Lazurites sitting contrasting white marble matrix. 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 has been 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, and without question the finest examples of Lazurite have been found at Ladjuar Medam. The piece is not repaired, and the Lazurite crystal is undamaged. For the size, this is a sharp crystal, which is important to note as most crystals from this locality end up rather distorted or "lumpy" when they get this size. A wonderful example of this classic and fine quality material from Afghanistan. Originally priced in the inventory at $1,800,