Lapis lazuli is used as jewelry, a meditation stone, a pigment for art, and a decorative material. How you use it depends on what drew you to it, but every use benefits from understanding what the stone actually is and how to keep it in good condition. With a Mohs hardness of only 5 to 6, lapis is softer than most gemstones and needs more careful handling than quartz or sapphire.
Wearing Lapis Lazuli as Jewelry
Lapis works well in pendants, earrings, brooches, and rings meant for occasional wear. Because it sits at 5 to 6 on the hardness scale, it can scratch more easily than harder stones, so it’s not the best choice for an everyday ring that takes constant contact with surfaces. If you do wear it on your hand, choose a protective bezel setting rather than prongs that leave the stone exposed.
Many lapis pieces on the market have been treated. Lower-quality stones are sometimes dyed to deepen their blue color, then sealed with wax or plastic to lock in the dye. Others are impregnated with wax or oil to improve luster. These treatments have only fair stability, meaning they can degrade over time with heat, sweat, or chemical exposure. If you’re buying lapis jewelry, ask whether the stone has been treated, since untreated pieces hold their appearance longer.
Choosing Quality Lapis
The gemstone trade grades lapis lazuli primarily on color and the presence of two common inclusions: white calcite and golden pyrite. The top grade, called “Afghan” or “Persian,” is an intense, uniform, medium-dark blue with a slight violet undertone. It contains little or no pyrite and no visible calcite. Small, evenly sprinkled pyrite flecks don’t necessarily hurt the value and can look attractive, but large clumps or heavy veining lower it.
The middle tier, sometimes called “Russian” or “Siberian,” shows various tones of blue and may contain both pyrite and some calcite. The lowest commercial grade, often labeled “Chilean,” tends to look greenish or mottled, with obvious white calcite streaks running through it. If you’re shopping for a piece with deep, vivid blue and minimal white patches, you’re looking at the higher end of the price range. Pale, greenish, or heavily calcite-streaked stones are the most affordable but lack that iconic saturated color.
Spotting Fakes
Lapis lazuli is commonly imitated with dyed howlite, dyed magnesite, sodalite, glass, and plastic. A few simple tests can help you tell the difference before you buy.
- Flashlight test: Real lapis lazuli is completely opaque. Shine a flashlight behind or through the stone. If any light passes through, you may be looking at glass, plastic, or sodalite.
- Touch test: Genuine lapis feels noticeably cool against your skin. Plastic imitations feel warm to the touch right away.
- Pyrite check: Look for small golden flecks scattered unevenly through the stone with irregular shapes. Most fakes lack pyrite entirely. One exception is synthetic lapis made by the Gilson company, which includes golden specks, but they’re arranged in a suspiciously regular pattern.
- Acetone test: Dab a cotton swab with nail polish remover and rub it on an inconspicuous spot. Natural, untreated lapis won’t lose color. Dyed stones (whether dyed lapis, howlite, or magnesite) may leave blue residue on the swab.
Keep in mind that the acetone test also reveals dye treatments on real lapis, so a color transfer doesn’t always mean the stone is fake. It may be genuine lapis that was dyed to look more vibrant.
Using Lapis Lazuli in Meditation
In crystal healing traditions, lapis lazuli is associated with the third eye chakra, the energy center located between the eyebrows that practitioners connect to intuition, self-awareness, and mental clarity. Whether or not you subscribe to chakra theory, many people find that holding a cool, smooth stone during meditation provides a useful physical anchor for attention.
The most common meditation technique is simply holding the stone in your palm and letting your attention rest on its weight, temperature, and texture. This gives the mind something concrete to return to when it wanders. A more targeted approach involves lying down and placing a flat lapis cabochon directly on the forehead between your eyebrows. Practitioners say this placement helps quiet surface-level thoughts and opens a deeper layer of internal awareness. You can also place the stone in front of you during seated meditation as a visual focal point.
In broader metaphysical practice, lapis is said to encourage self-expression, emotional honesty, and the release of repressed emotions. People use it during journaling sessions, carry it during difficult conversations, or keep it on a desk while studying, since it’s traditionally linked to intellectual ability and the desire for knowledge. These are belief-based practices rather than clinically validated ones, but they have a long cultural history.
Lapis Lazuli as an Art Pigment
Before synthetic alternatives existed, lapis lazuli was the only source of true ultramarine blue. During the 17th century, this pigment was more expensive than gold. Renaissance and Baroque painters reserved it for the most important elements of a composition, often the robes of the Virgin Mary.
The traditional extraction process, called “pastello extraction,” was laborious. Artists ground lapis lazuli into a fine powder, sometimes heating the stone first to make grinding easier. They then kneaded the powder into a paste made of resin, beeswax, and oil, forming a fist-sized ball. After sitting for a week or two, the ball was worked under water with kneading motions. The ultramarine pigment released into the water, while mineral impurities stayed trapped in the paste. Some historical recipes even specified that the pigment should be washed out “by the hands of a young girl,” reflecting how much ritual surrounded the process. Without the heating step, extraction was significantly more difficult.
Today, you can still buy genuine lapis lazuli pigment from specialty art suppliers. It’s used in oil painting, egg tempera, and watercolor by artists who value its subtle warmth and granular texture, qualities that synthetic ultramarine doesn’t perfectly replicate. If you’re interested in trying it, look for pigment-grade lapis powder and mix it with your preferred binder. Expect to pay significantly more than you would for synthetic blue.
Cleaning and Caring for Lapis
Lapis lazuli requires gentler care than most gemstones. The Gemological Institute of America recommends avoiding ultrasonic cleaners and steam cleaners entirely. The stone’s moderate hardness, potential wax or oil treatments, and sensitivity to heat and chemicals make both methods risky.
The safest cleaning method is a soft, damp cloth. Wipe the surface gently, then dry it immediately. Avoid soaking lapis in water for extended periods. Keep it away from household chemicals, perfume, hairspray, and any solvent, including acetone and denatured alcohol, which can strip dye or dissolve wax sealants.
Store lapis separately from harder stones like quartz, topaz, or sapphire, which can scratch it. A soft pouch or a lined compartment in a jewelry box works well. If you notice your lapis looking duller over time, a jeweler who works with softer stones can repolish and re-treat it, though this is a sign the original wax or oil treatment is wearing off rather than any damage to the stone itself.