The Legend
Mined from within central Asia, Lapis Lazuli (青金石) is a semi-precious stone that holds significant cultural value in traditional Japanese jewelry designs. Alongside other prized gemstones like agate, coral, and ivory, Lapis was commonly used in the creation of netsuke, inro, and ojimi, as well as Japanese sword decoration.
Lapis also saw a great amount of usage in shippō (七宝) or Japanese enamelware, which was a reference to the seven treasures recorded in a number of Buddhist texts. Although designs largely varied, they generally included at least some of the following precious materials: gold, silver, emerald, coral, agate, lapis, giant clamshell, glass and pearl.
The Pendant
The SEIKINSEKI pendant boasts a roughly 1.75 x 0.3 x 0.3 inch piece of the finest Lapis Lazuli, acquired from the same mines that supplied and still supply Japanese jewelers today.
Like any of our accessories, each pendant is hand-cut at the forge and is completely unique in its coloration and pattern. The SEIKINSEKI also comes with a custom bamboo box.
Gem Coloration
Although Lapis is most commonly associated with a dark blue hue, its color can range across different shades of blue and other hues like violet or turquoise. This is largely determined by the aggregation of different minerals in the stone. For example, the presence of a mineral called afghanite creates a pale blue shade in Lapis, while lazurite is responsible for producing royal blue shade. As the smith cuts each pendant from different stones of differing mineral compositions, the color of each will range across multiple hues.
