Turquoise is an opaque mineral that occurs in beautiful shades of blue, bluish green, green, and yellowish green. Most of the world’s turquoise rough is currently produced in the southwestern United States, China, Chile, Egypt, Iran, and Mexico. Very few minerals have a colour that is so well known, so characteristic, and so impressive that the name of the mineral becomes so commonly used.  Turquoise is the birthstone for the month of December.

The name lapis lazuli means ‘blue stone’. It’s more commonly known as just lapis. The original lapis lazuli rock mines are in the West Hindu-Kush Mountains of Afghanistan. The highest quality and quantity of lapis lazuli stone still comes from Afghanistan to this day. The Lapis Lazuli crystal meaning is associated with the third eye chakra, the energy center that processes the essence of your inner spirit. People born during the month of December get to claim the lapis lazuli birthstone as their traditional birthstone.