Lapis Lazuli Jewelry

A Date With Diamonds At Bonhams & Butterfields Fall Salon Jewelry Auction In ...

The third edition of the Antwerp Diamond Trade Fair will open its doors from January 29 to 31, 2012 to an exclusive audience of invited diamond buyers. For the first time, following requests from exhibitors and sponsors, the organisers of the 2012 fair will also be extending invitations to jewellery manufacturers and retailers from Asia [...]

PANDORA A/S announced today that Jesper Nielsen and Annette Laustrup Nielsen have resigned from the Board of Directors of PANDORA Jewelry Central Western Europe A/S, a holding company for PANDORA’s activities in Central and Western Europe (PANDORA CWE). On the Board of Directors, Jesper Nielsen and Annette Laustrup Nielsen have been representing KASI Group, the [...]

The Israel Diamond Institute Group (IDI) representative office in Hong Kong, IDI – Asia Pacific Ltd., has a new managing director. Michal Gordon-Keret replaces Orly Yaffe, who opened the office in July 2007. The IDI Hong Kong office was opened in keeping with IDI’s Asian-focused strategy. The office is responsible for promoting trade with the [...]

Bonhams & Butterfields is pleased to announce its September 19, 2011 auction of Salon Jewelry and Watches in San Francisco, simulcast to Los Angeles. The sale, timed to coincide with the firm’s SoMa Estate Auction with Jewelry the day prior, will dazzle with diamonds.

Leading the auction will be a diamond and platinum bracelet (est. $5,000-7,000); a diamond and eighteen karat gold brooch pin, Boucheron, Paris (est. $3,000-5,000); a pair of diamond and eighteen karat gold earclips, each with French assay marks (est. $2,000-3,000); and an art deco, lapis lazuli, diamond and seed pearl tassel pendant, mounted in platinum-topped eighteen karat gold (est. $1,200-1,800).

Lynne Arkin, G.G., Jewelry Specialist at Bonhams & Butterfields, says of the sale: “This early fall Salon collection is wonderfully diverse, very interesting and will appeal to a wide variety of jewelry buyers. The uniqueness and variety in the sale are sure to be received with enthusiasm.

Lapis Lazuli Jewelry in Ancient Egypt

When you wear a piece of jewelry that contains lapis lazuli, you’re continuing a tradition that has been going on for thousands of years. Lapis lazuli doesn’t just have the distinction of being old – it is actually one of the first gemstones that was ever worked on and worn as jewelry. It’s easy to understand why lapis lazuli has been popular for so long; it’s a lovely deep shade of blue with little speckles of gold pyrite that twinkle like stars. In some ancient cultures, lapis lazuli was merely a pretty stone worn as an ornament. In other cultures, lapis lazuli was considered to be a magical and holy stone.

One culture that made heavy use of lapis lazuli in their jewelry was ancient Egypt. Lapis lazuli was a popular stone in ancient Egypt as early as 3100 BCE. At this point in history, Egyptians had access to large quantities of precious metals and commonly used gold in their jewelry as well. Egyptian religious beliefs and funerary practices dictated that since the mummified dead were going to live in the afterlife, they needed to take their belongings along with them. Wealthy people were able to commission the best of the best and thousands of years later when archaeologists opened up tombs, amongst other treasures they found beautifully crafted pieces of gold and lapis lazuli jewelry. Lapis lazuli was specifically used because the deep blue color represented the divine night sky or the life giving Nile River. According to the Book of the Dead, lapis lazuli also had life giving powers.

Types of jewelry that commonly used lapis lazuli included rings, amulets, bracelets, earrings, necklaces, anklets, armlets, collars and pectorals. Some beautiful examples of lapis lazuli and gold jewelry were found in the tomb of King Tutankhamen. Many of these pieces date back to the decade of 1334-1325 BCE and can be seen on display in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

One particularly stunning example of lapis lazuli jewelry from King Tut’s collection is a large gold hinged bracelet. This bracelet was found on the wrist of King Tut’s mummy. It is inlaid with several different stones such as turquoise, carnelian and quartz, but the most striking thing about this bracelet is the large cloisonné scarab beetle made out of lapis lazuli that is the main focus of the bracelet.

As scarabs were a common motif in Egyptian jewelry, this bracelet wasn’t the only piece of jewelry in King Tut’s tomb to feature one. Another beautiful lapis lazuli piece from the tomb featuring a scarab beetle was a pectoral or collar style necklace. Although King Tut was found wearing the above mentioned bracelet as well as other pieces of jewelry, he was not actually wearing this necklace – it was contained within his mummy wrappings. The lapis lazuli scarab beetle in question is again the main ornament of the piece. The scarab is depicted on a solar boat floating on a river of lapis lazuli water flanked by two baboons. Above the scarab is a rising sun of carnelian and a lapis lazuli sky.

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