Untinted AA+ lapis lazuli bracelet

A bracelet of undyed lapis lazuli beads on elastic, graded AA+.

• Bead diameters: 4, 6, 8 or 10 mm
• Bracelet length: 18–19 cm
• Elastic mount

Why 'untinted' is worth paying for

A great deal of inexpensive lapis is dyed — paler, greyer stone with more calcite in it, coloured to look like the deep blue of good material. Dyed lapis can rub off onto skin and pale clothing, and it fades. That this bracelet is specified as untinted is a genuine point in its favour, and it is exactly the sort of thing worth checking when you buy lapis anywhere.

What lapis lazuli actually is

Not a mineral but a rock — a mixture. The blue is lazurite; the white flecks are calcite; the gold specks are pyrite, fool's gold. Good lapis is deep blue with little calcite and a scatter of pyrite; the presence of some pyrite is a mark of the genuine stone rather than a flaw.

Its history is extraordinary. For roughly six thousand years essentially all the world's lapis came from a single remote valley in Badakhshan, in what is now Afghanistan. It reached Egypt for Tutankhamun's death mask and Mesopotamia for the Standard of Ur. Ground up, it became ultramarine — the pigment that for centuries cost more than gold, which is why Renaissance contracts specified exactly how much of it a painter had to use on the Virgin's robe.

Care — lapis needs it

Mohs 5 to 6, and porous. It is damaged by water, acids, perfume and cosmetics. Put it on last, take it off first, never soak it, and never use an ultrasonic cleaner.

No health claim for any mineral is authorised or supported by evidence, and none should replace medical care.