Workshop
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Selection. The creation of our handcrafted lapis jewelry begins with the selection of the lapis lazuli stones. Our artisans are experts in this vital step of the crafting process; every stone is chosen with painstaking care and attention.
Sawing. The process of cutting lapis lazuli is intricate; even a small mistake will ruin the stone and postpone production. Here, one of our artisans uses a thin circular blade to saw through a piece of lapis lazuli. The blade, which is composed mostly of steel and copper, is coated along the outer edge with diamond grit, allowing it to literally scratch its way through the lapis stone.
Grinding. Just as with the saw blades, the grind wheels are studded with diamonds, giving the necessary hardness to cut away at the lapis lazuli stones.These wheels are used to shape the stones to a rough shape.
Sanding. This next step is similar to grinding, but makes use of much finer abrasives. The delicate control of a sanding wheel allows the artisan to remove any scratches left by coarser abrasives during grinding, and since it removes material less rapidly, the sanding wheel establishes the final shape of the stone prior to polishing.
Polishing. In order to achieve the mirror-like finish that reflects light across the face of the stone, our artisans polish the sanded lapis lazuli to perfection. In some cases, polishing can even be used for ultrafine shaping, as the process rubs away miniscule amounts of stone Inlay. Our lapis lazuli collection is known for the fine sterling silver into which our stones are inlayed. In order to achieve this delicate look, our artisans fix the polished lapis lazuli stones into hollow recesses within the silver by means of a specialized glue.Then the protruding stone is ground and polished until it is flush with the surrounding material.
