lazura

lapis lazuli rises from the ring – a shard of deep blue, scattered with pyrite. ancient cultures did not distinguish between the stone and the sky. in sumerian, the same word named both. the golden flecks were read as stars; the stone was not a representation of the heavens – it was the heavens, cut and held. a greek meander is set in diamonds across the stone's face. the oldest continuous geometric pattern known – found on pottery from the neolithic period, carved into temple friezes, worn as a border at the edges of worlds. it marked the boundary between the finite and what lay beyond it. rubies circle the band – raw, massive, each one unresolved at the edges. corundum colored by chromium, the same element that gives them their pulse. in ancient lapidaries, ruby was said to hold its fire from within, glowing without a source. made of 14k gold and set with lapis lazuli, rubies, and diamonds.