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Amity and friendship best fits the character of blue gems which also symbolize harmony and stability. If you are looking for a gemstone to match your eyes or your outfits, consider these stones:

Lapis Lazuli

Lapis lazuli is one such gem which has captured these ennobling characteristics that appeal to both male and female with an eye for fine jewelry. The color blue in this gem is drawn from the sulphur contained in its lazurite content which results in hues ranging from pure ultramarine to light blue.

Uses of Lapis

Less hard than most gemstones, Lapis Lazuli has also found use as coloring for cosmetics by the ancient Egyptians, later replicated as painting medium by some painters during the Renaissance period to come up with the brightest of blues. This stone has also been used as a medium for sculpture, beads and carvings in past civilizations.

Meaning of Lapis

The recurring theme that lapis lazuli helped meld in these old objects of art is deep spirituality, a psychic harmony that has found its way in today’s contemporary thinking on the gemstone as an iconoclast for truth, insight, wisdom and self-realization. It has also found use in emotional healing as well as a talisman to cure immune system disorders and ailments affecting the thymus, bone marrow and the throat.

Where It Is Found

The Hindu Kush located in the north-east of Afghanistan is said to be the best source for raw stones of lapis lazuli, although deposits are also found in Pakistan, Myanmar, Mongolia, Russia, Italy, Canada and the USA. Ores of high quality, however, are rare which results in huge price differentials, ranging from the pricey to quite affordable lapis lazuli jewelry. The more expensive (and elusive) ones would be those with deep and intense blue with fine distributions of shimmering pyrite crystals.

Sapphire

Blue gemstones of true high quality can be difficult to find. Much work from a skilled artisan is required to bring out the magnificence hidden in the sapphire rock. This stunning gemstone belongs to the corondum group of crystals made of aluminium oxide which hardened and solidified into gemstones as a result of tremendous heat and pressure deep below ground.

Where Sapphire is Found

Sapphire mines are found in Burma, India, Pakistan, Vietnam, Thailand, Brazil, Australia and Africa. From these remote mines, the raw crystals have to be taken to gem centers where there are cutters skilled enough to work on the hard materials. It is a complicated process wherein the cutter has to determine the best angle to cut the crystal so that the gemstone’s different hues and color intensities are presented to their optimum.

Cutting the Stone

When crafted with skilled hands, sapphire jewelry created is most rewarding. For what could be expected to come out of such meticulous labor is a shimmering mid-blue stone reminiscent of a clear summer sky. Or it could be the surprising velvety shine of a Kashmir blue sapphire, the most valued of all sapphires as its intense hue is maintained even under artificial light. Another exciting find would be the Burmese blue sapphire with hues ranging from deep cornflower blue to a full and rich royal blue.

Tanzanite

Tiffany of New York has taken much credit for having brought to light many extraordinary blue gem stones. Count tanzanite among these highly coveted pieces of jewelry in the world. What has helped boost the value of this gemstone is that it could only be sourced from the East African country of Tanzania, and that most people regardless of gender favor blue. Tanzanite came to gemologists attention in 1967, the year it was discovered in high altitude deposits. This stone has been classified as a blue variety of zoisite. Tanzanite varies from either deep blue or ultramarine blue to light violet-blue. Those most sought-after are the blue with faint hint of purple, a luster which becomes wonderfully pronounced when the stone size is more than 10 carats.

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