What is the difference between Lapis and Denim Lapis?
Lapis lazuli is a navy blue gemstone that at present is found only in Afghanistan, Chile and in a very small deposit in the Colorado Rockies. By far, the major source of high quality lapis is Afghanistan. Lower grade lapis comes from Chile and Afghanistan and is pale blue in color with white specks. This is often referred to as “denim lapis”. Lapis is a very hard stone and difficult to polish. A plastic imitation of lapis is on the market. It is very shiny and may have hard pieces of metal in it to represent the pyrite found in natural lapis. (We carry only natural lapis in our jewelry.
