Lapis lazuli has been treasured for more than five thousand years for its intense blue color and rarity. Carved objects in lapis appear in major archaeological contexts across Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt. The stone was used for seals, jewelry, and ceremonial ornament and appears in the funerary objects of Tutankhamun, where it was set into royal inlays and adornments.

During the Renaissance, lapis lazuli was ground into natural ultramarine — the most prized blue pigment available to artists. Because of its cost and scarcity, it was reserved for significant commissions. Ultramarine made from lapis appears in works by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Vermeer and in major European paintings and manuscripts held in museum collections today.

For most of recorded history, the principal source of lapis lazuli was the Sar-e-Sang district in Badakhshan, Afghanistan, where deposits have been worked since antiquity. In the twentieth century, an important deposit was discovered in the Chilean Andes near Ovalle in the Coquimbo Region — known as Flor de los Andes — at elevations above 3,500 meters. Today, Afghanistan and Chile remain the best-known sources of natural lapis lazuli.

In 1984, lapis lazuli was designated Chile’s national stone, reflecting its cultural and artistic importance within the country.

While lapis lazuli is found in only a few regions of the world — most notably Afghanistan and Chile — Chilean lapis is obtained through long-established artisan and mining channels within a stable regulatory environment. This provides a clear and dependable context for contemporary studio work and for collectors who value clarity of origin.

Chilean lapis is valued for its deep blue tone and natural variations of calcite and pyrite, which give each stone its distinctive character and visual depth.

At Lapis Lazuli House, Chilean lapis lazuli is selected in small quantities and shaped by hand using traditional lapidary techniques. Based in the United States, the workshop maintains a Chilean–American tradition grounded in material integrity, craftsmanship, and a long-standing studio practice.