Large lapis lazuli sphere with an incredible color and the best quality

A large, polished lapis lazuli sphere in deep ultramarine blue, with fine golden pyrite veins distributed across the surface like a starry night.

Lapis lazuli is not a single mineral, but a rock. Its main component is lazurite, which gives it its intense blue color. Calcite (white) and pyrite (golden) are also constantly present as accompanying minerals.

The intense, uniform coloring of this sphere marks it as best quality class. It originates almost exclusively from the traditional mining regions of Sar-e-Sang in Afghanistan, the oldest documented lapis lazuli mine in the world with over 6,000 years of mining history.

A sphere is the most challenging cut for lapis lazuli. Any asymmetry in color distribution or an excessively high calcite content becomes immediately visible. This sphere shows consistent ultramarine coloring across its entire surface.

Pharaohs, Renaissance painters, and medieval scribes processed this mineral color as ultramarine pigment, which was more expensive than gold for centuries.

A collector's item of the highest class with cultural depth.