Lapis Jewellery

The Lapis Jewellery Collection at Palenque celebrates one of the oldest and most storied gemstones in human history. Lapis lazuli has been prized for more than six thousand years, mined in the mountains of Afghanistan and traded across the ancient world, used to adorn the burial mask of Tutankhamun, ground into the ultramarine pigment that Renaissance painters reserved for the robes of the Virgin Mary, and worn by royalty and nobility across every civilisation that encountered it. Its appeal is not difficult to understand. The deep, celestial blue of lapis lazuli, rich and saturated and unlike any other stone, is shot through with the gold glitter of pyrite inclusions that catch the light like stars in a night sky, giving each piece of lapis a depth and complexity that is entirely natural and entirely unrepeatable. The collection features bracelets in which lapis lazuli beads are combined with 925 sterling silver beads, the alternating rhythm of deep blue stone and cool silver metal creating a bracelet that is both bold in colour and considered in design. The earrings take a different approach, setting pieces of lapis lazuli directly in 925 sterling silver, allowing the natural surface of the stone, its colour, its pyrite flecks, its subtle variations in tone, to be the focus of each piece. In both the bracelets and the earrings, the 925 sterling silver provides a clean, cool counterpoint to the warm, intense blue of the lapis, a pairing that has been used in jewellery design for centuries and remains as compelling today as it has ever been. The Lapis Jewellery Collection is available exclusively at Palenque.