Treated and Fake Lapis Lazuli: What You Need to Know

Fake lapis lazuli may be easy to spot. Treated lapis is not, and the techniques used to enhance lower-grade material have become sophisticated enough that laboratory testing is sometimes the only way to be certain. This article covers how imitations are made and what to look for.

Lapis Lazuli May Be Fake or Enhanced

Some imitation lapis lazuli can be easy to identify, but treated stones can be far more difficult. Treated refers to lower-grade stones that have been enhanced to improve colour and appearance. 

Fake or imitation lapis lazuli is often produced using other natural rocks and minerals, although synthetic materials such as resin or plastic composites are also used.

Sodalite is the most common substitute, as its colour is very similar. Other blue stones, such as azurite and dumortierite, may also be used, but are far less common. Jasper and even howlite have also been documented.

Lower-Grade Lapis Processed in China

Lower-grade lapis lazuli is often dyed to improve its appearance. Paraffin or wax may then be applied to seal the dye and improve the stone’s polish. This treatment can also make the colour appear far richer than it naturally is.

Many retailers buy lapis lazuli from distributors in Pakistan, believing it will have come directly from Afghanistan, which may be the case. However, a significant amount of stone that's mined is initially sent to China for processing. This is well documented within the trade.

There is no evidence that lapis lazuli is dyed or treated in Afghanistan. Crude treatments are known to be carried out in India and Pakistan. For more sophisticated processing, material is sent to China. 

Lapis is usually traded through Pakistan and China because of the difficulty of dealing directly with suppliers in Afghanistan.

Although fake lapis lazuli is produced in China, the focus tends to be on enhancing lower-grade material to sell at a higher price.

Where a treatment is so advanced that it can only be identified through laboratory testing, it will almost certainly have been carried out in China. The technology they use is sophisticated and continually improving.

Once stones have been polished, it can be far more difficult to identify any trace of dye.

How to Tell if Lapis Lazuli Is Fake

The colour in lower-grade lapis lazuli or in other dyed stones may come off when tested with acetone (nail polish remover). 

The colour of natural lapis lazuli is stable, but treated or fake stones are far more likely to fade when exposed to UV light or high temperatures.

The white calcite that occurs in most lapis lazuli can also be coloured to create a more uniform appearance. This mimics higher-quality material, which typically contains less visible calcite. Lapis lazuli with little or no calcite or pyrite is not particularly common. These distinctive inclusions are an important characteristic when identifying genuine material.

The pyrite inclusions present in most lapis lazuli are particularly difficult to replicate. Although gold-coloured specks can be added to imitation material, reproducing the natural appearance and distribution of pyrite convincingly is extremely difficult. In some fake material, these specks have been added with metallic paint. Where these golden specks have been added artificially, it can usually be seen when the stone is magnified. 

If you suspect a lapis lazuli stone may be fake, you could apply a hot needle to an inconspicuous area. If plastic, wax, or another filler has been used, a burning smell may be noticeable. The problem with most authenticity tests is that they usually cause some degree of damage.

Weight can also be useful when trying to identify genuine lapis from fake. Depending on the material used, an imitation stone may feel lighter. For example, sodalite is less dense than lapis lazuli. Stones produced from synthetic materials are often noticeably lighter.

Even an Experienced Buyer Can Be Caught Out

We recently purchased twenty kilograms of rough lapis lazuli from a new supplier in Pakistan who was recommended to us. Before placing the order, we had a long conversation with the supplier. I made it clear that I had been buying this stone for many years and had a good understanding of the different qualities and how it was mined and processed.

Something I made very clear was that I know a considerable amount of lapis lazuli is sent to China for processing. It's then returned to Pakistan to be sold. While in China, lower-grade material is often enhanced.

This supplier assured me that he bought the raw material directly from a supplier in Afghanistan and that his business cut and polished the stones themselves. Satisfied that he appeared genuine, and having also been recommended, we placed an order.

When the parcel arrived, we were immediately suspicious because some of the stones appeared far too blue. Under magnification, we observed small blotchy areas with some colour resembling ink, but even with a loupe, it was not possible to say for certain whether it was dye or natural markings within the stone.

Initial testing with acetone showed the colour to be stable, but we were still not convinced. We therefore sent fifteen stones away for laboratory testing. Nine came back showing traces of blue dye.

Mixing treated or fake material in with natural, untreated stone is common practice in China, precisely because it makes identifying the treated pieces far more difficult.

The supplier, who trades on Instagram as Crystaldreams09, explained that the person he bought the material from had been unable to fulfil our order in full, so he had purchased a small quantity of the same grade lapis from another supplier, and that it must be those stones that were dyed.

We had no way of knowing which stones had been dyed, and laboratory testing such a large number of individual pieces was not viable due to the cost involved. Furthermore, I didn't believe his story.

When I told him I would be returning the parcel to him, he stopped responding. That's a typical response from a supplier in Asia when they have been found out. I was then blocked on Instagram.

Sadly, the entire batch had to be thrown away, as we would not risk selling stones that may be dyed.

The tumbled stones in the photo above are highly likely to have been treated. The finest grade material in any natural stone is not usually tumbled. With tumbled stones, top grade doesn't mean the very finest quality. It means the highest quality that's produced as a tumbled stone.

The reason is primarily the target market for tumbled stones. If genuinely top-grade lapis lazuli were tumbled, the price would be beyond most people’s budget.

Tumbled stones are produced in vast quantities, so finding material of this grade to produce so many tumbled stones would be highly unlikely. As you can see from the photo, it would be very easy to be caught out. 

I have no way of knowing for certain whether the stones in the photo have been treated. I'm just going on personal experience of having bought lapis lazuli and tumbled stones for many years. The colour is far superior to that in the piece below, which is very high-grade. Although once available for sale, it's now part of my personal collection.

What This Means for Buyers

We have always recommended that the best way to avoid buying fake or treated lapis lazuli is to purchase from a reputable, trustworthy source. The problem is that treatments are becoming increasingly sophisticated.

Despite these issues, buying lapis lazuli is not inherently risky, nor is all material on the market enhanced. What it does highlight is that the lapis trade is complex, and that even experienced buyers sourcing material in good faith can encounter treated stones.

The vast majority of lapis lazuli sold worldwide is not deliberately misrepresented at the retail level. Treatments are carried out early in the supply chain, well before material reaches wholesalers and small businesses. As stones pass through multiple hands and processing centres, enhancements can go unnoticed until a detailed examination is carried out.

The key takeaway is not to avoid buying lapis lazuli, but to understand it. Know what a genuine stone looks like, learn to recognise the common signs, and be aware of any material that may have been treated. In some cases, only laboratory testing can distinguish an imitation from natural lapis or determine whether genuine lapis has been treated.

There's plenty of high-quality lapis lazuli available, but the issue is finding a trustworthy supplier, which, I'm happy to say, we now have.

An informed, careful purchase remains the most reliable way to buy this popular and highly sought-after stone.

Article Photos

The lapis lazuli is from our collection.

Pop-up photos: The azurite and calcite are courtesy of Stan Celestian.

The video, which lasts less than one minute, shows how easy it is to produce a fake lapis lazuli stone. Courtesy of Zurick Designs Jewelry and Art.