12.87 Ct. Cabochon Lapis from Afghanistan

This marquise shaped cabochon began its story hundreds of millions of years ago, in the high, wind scoured ranges of Badakhshan, Afghanistan. There, skilled miners working traditional ledges extracted lumps of lapis that have defined the stone for millennia. This particular piece, a 12.87 carat gem measuring 23.75 x 12.22 x 5.87 mm, was carefully chosen for its vivid, saturated blue, a color that reads as deep and clear rather than diluted or chalky. Our cutters at The Natural Gemstone Company shaped the rough into an elegant marquise cabochon, following the natural flow of the stone to preserve its best color and body tone, then polished it to an excellent finish that catches and holds the eye. The gem is entirely natural with no enhancement, every curve and plane a testament to hands that respect the material, and every facet of its surface revealing the lapis essence that comes directly from Afghan earth and tradition.

When you place this Afghan lapis beside stones from other famed sources, the differences tell stories. Compared with Chilean lapis, which often leans to a lighter, greener azure and can carry more visible calcite veining that softens the overall body color, this Afghan marquise is more concentrated, a truer ultramarine with an intensity that reads almost painted. Against Russian sourced pieces, which sometimes present a more velvet like darkness or a subtly purplish undertone, this cabochon maintains a clearer, purer blue without that smoky depth, giving it a fresher, more luminous presence. When set near historic Egyptian artifacts that celebrated lapis as a symbol of the heavens, the similarity in tone is instructive, because much of the blue admired in ancient works was supplied by Afghan mines, the same lineage that produced this gem. In jewelry, this stone will command attention, its vividness standing apart from paler or muddied blues, and its marquise cabochon shape will echo both classical and contemporary designs, making it a bridge between the gemstone stories of past and present.