lapis lazuli

With just over a week left to go in Afghanistan, I decided to proceed with one purchase that I have been intending to do since the last time I was in Afghanistan in 2005.

Lapis lazuli is a semi-precious stone that is found in very few places. A remote Valley in the Afghan Province of Badakhshan is the most prolific producer of the mineral, and has been for thousands of years. Since arriving in Gamberi, I spent some time looking at what was available, and did some serious bargaining to end up with the pieces pictured below. Like any precious/semi-precious stones, there are many variables (size, quality, shape, etc.) that are factored into the overall value. I choose what I did for quality and aesthetics.

I paid $95.00 US, which is well below what I would have paid for at the bazaar in Bagram or elsewhere. It helped that the vendor was the same guy that CSM Enright bought the gold Rolex from...he remembered me, and stated that I was his "best friend and number one customer"...

I was surprised to see that this set could probably fetch anywhere between $300.00-$1,000.00+ on ebay...but that's not why I bought them.