Martinez Lapis Lazuli Teardrop Pendant in Sterling Silver

This blue was once worth more than gold.

For most of recorded history the only real source of lapis lazuli was a single mountain range in northeastern Afghanistan. Painters ground it into ultramarine, the most expensive pigment in Europe, priced above gold by weight. That is why Renaissance painters saved it for one subject: the robe of the Virgin. If a patron wanted this blue in a painting, they paid for it specifically.

Look closely and you will find flecks of gold scattered through the stone. That is pyrite, and it is a good sign. Natural lapis carries pyrite and often a little white calcite. The uniform, flawless, almost plastic blue you see in cheap jewelry is usually dyed howlite or reconstituted powder. Real lapis has weather in it.

This is a big, confident teardrop with a deep saturated color and a glassy polish, hung from a matching lapis bail so the blue carries all the way up. The sterling is deliberately plain. With a stone like this, the silversmith's job is to get out of the way.

Turn it over and it is signed Martinez, sterling.

The details

• Stone: lapis lazuli with natural pyrite inclusions
• Metal: sterling silver
• Hallmark: Martinez, sterling
• Pendant: 1 inch long, 1 1/2 inches including the bail
• Chain: not included, hangs on your own
• One of a kind: yes, a single piece

Wildflower is a turquoise shop first, so lapis has to earn its place here. This one did.