Quick Specs
- Type: Bottle pendant necklace
- Pendant: Heart-shaped glass bottle with cork stopper, about 1 by 1 1/4 inches
- Fill: Lapis lazuli chips
- Color: Deep blue with gray and silvery white patches
- Cord: Black satin, 24 inches
Deep Blue Lapis Chips in a Glass Heart
Blue is the first thing you see in this bottle. The chips run from navy to a brighter royal blue, and many carry patches of gray or silvery white where the color breaks up. A few catch the light with a metallic gleam, and the lighter patches give the pile a mottled look. The container is a clear glass heart with a short neck, a tan cork and a small silver-toned ring that holds the cord. Held point-down, the heart lets the chips pile through its rounded base and leaves room under the cork for them to shift. The chips are irregular fragments, and some have flat faces that flash as you tilt the bottle. The pendant measures about 1 inch across and 1 1/4 inches tall and hangs from a 24 inch black satin cord. Light passes through the clear glass, so you see the edges of the chips as well as their faces, and the shoulders of the heart slope from the neck down to the point. The cork, the ring and the cord stay quiet in tan, silver and black, which leaves the blue as the one strong color.
Lapis lazuli is a rock, an aggregate of several minerals in which lazurite supplies the deep blue. Calcite and pyrite are usual companions, so white and golden patches can show among the blue. The most prized lapis is a uniform dark blue to violet-blue, and a bottle of mixed chips shows the wider range of the rock. The rock rates between 5 and 6 on the Mohs scale. The leading source is Badakhshan in Afghanistan, where mines have been worked for thousands of years, and people have mined it since about 7000 BC. Ground lapis became the pigment ultramarine, which painters valued for centuries. Dye, wax and oil treatments are known on lapis in the trade. In modern crystal practice, lapis is linked with the third eye chakra and with themes of truth, wisdom and self-expression. Those meanings come from crystal lore, and you can take them as themes for reflection. Gem guides name pendants, earrings and pins as the best jewelry forms for lapis. Chips show the rock at close range, each fragment carrying its own mix of deep blue and lighter minerals.
Ways to Wear and Display the Lapis Heart
A deep-blue accent near the collar is the simplest use for the heart on its 24 inch cord. At home, hang it from a lamp or a bedpost, or stand it in a dish where daylight comes through the glass. On a writing desk, it can sit beside a notebook as a quiet cue for the truth-and-self-expression themes that crystal practice gives lapis. On an altar, set it beside a candle and tilt it now and then to watch the chips settle. A small box or card makes it an easy gift. Layer it with a longer pendant so the blue sits above a second piece, or wear it alone where the cord frames it against a pale top. For more stones to wear at the neck, browse my crystal and gemstone pendants.
How to Wear and Care for the Lapis Heart Bottle Necklace
Three steps cover checking the bottle, wearing it safely, and keeping it clean.
- Check the Cork and Ring
Look at the cork where it meets the neck and press it gently to confirm it sits snug. Lift the pendant by its cord to test the silver-toned ring, then tilt the bottle slowly and watch the chips travel. Glass can chip at a thin neck if it's knocked against a hard surface, so hold the heart by its body.
- Wear It Safely
Glass and small loose chips make this a pendant for adults, so keep it away from young children. Remove it before sports or sleep, and before anything that could snag the cord. Wear it outside heavy clothing, clear of zippers and buttons, so the glass stays safe from knocks.
- Wipe and Store It
Wipe the glass with a soft dry cloth, and keep steam, ultrasonic cleaners and chemical solvents away from the pendant, since the International Gem Society advises against them for lapis. Between wearings, store the necklace on its own in a box or pouch, because geology.com recommends storing lapis pieces separately to avoid scratches.
The Tarot Fellow Standard
I stock this necklace because the bottle puts lapis chips at close range: a clear glass heart, a cork stopper and a pile of deep blue pieces with their lighter patches in view. Lapis has been used for thousands of years, and a small bottle of chips is an easy way to carry a piece of that history. The third eye link is modern crystal lore, and I offer it as a theme for your own reflection. For more stones tied to intuition and inner sight, browse my intuition and spiritual development stones.
Frequently Asked Questions
The gold flecks are pyrite. GIA describes lapis as an aggregate of lazurite, calcite and pyrite, and Wikipedia says most samples contain calcite and pyrite. Geology.com adds that gold pyrite grains are often accepted in lapis, while white calcite veining or mottling lowers its desirability. The white and gold patches among the blue are part of how the rock is built.
Lapis lazuli is a rock. GIA calls it an aggregate of several minerals, and geology.com says it is a metamorphic rock whose blue comes mainly from lazurite, with calcite and pyrite usually present. Wikipedia gives lazurite as typically 30 to 40 percent of the rock. Geology.com says a rock needs a distinctly blue color and at least 25 percent lazurite to qualify as lapis.
Afghanistan is the leading source. Wikipedia places the Sar-i Sang mines in Badakhshan Province and says they have been worked for more than 6,000 years, and geology.com says most production comes from small mines in the same province. Chile and Russia also produce lapis, and geology.com adds Canada, Argentina and Pakistan. People have mined the rock since about 7000 BC.
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