Blue stones: list, shades, symbolism, treatments and care

← Back to Guide to stones by color

Lapis lazuli, sodalite, turquoise, aquamarine, larimar, blue topaz, sapphire... Blue stones, their shades, hardness, symbolism and the imitations to watch for.

Key points

Shades	Sky blue, royal blue, ultramarine, blue-green, blue-violet
Best-known stones	Lapis lazuli, sodalite, turquoise, aquamarine, larimar
Very hard	Sapphire (9), blue topaz (8), aquamarine (7.5 to 8)
Soft or porous	Turquoise, lapis lazuli, angelite, celestine, azurite
Almost always treated	Blue topaz (irradiation), aquamarine (heating)
Symbolism	Sky, water, the sacred (lapis), the favourite colour of Westerners

A rare blue in the mineral world

Blue is less common than green or red among minerals. It comes from copper (turquoise, azurite, chrysocolla), from iron and titanium (sapphire), from colour centres caused by irradiation (natural blue topaz, which is rare), from the very structure of the mineral (lapis lazuli, sodalite) or from fibres (hawk's eye). Blue is found in very different families, from soft rock to corundum. Neighbouring shades, on the green side, are gathered in green stones.

The main blue stones

Stone	Shade	Hardness	Good to know
Lapis lazuli	ultramarine blue, golden pyrite	5 to 5.5	rock; wax, dye and imitations
Sodalite	royal blue, white veins	5.5 to 6	no pyrite; may be dyed
Turquoise	sky blue to blue-green	5 to 6	porous; often stabilised or imitated
Aquamarine	light blue to blue-green	7.5 to 8	beryl; heating is common
Angelite	pale lavender blue	3.5	anhydrite; fears water
Celestine	very pale blue	3 to 3.5	strontium sulphate; fragile
Larimar	sky blue to turquoise, veined with white	4.5 to 5	pectolite from the Dominican Republic
Azurite	deep blue	3.5 to 4	copper carbonate; take precautions
Kyanite	blue, in blades	4.5 to 5 (varies with direction)	hardness differs depending on the direction
Blue topaz	sky blue to London blue	8	irradiation then heating are common
Sapphire	intense blue	9	corundum; often heated
Blue lace agate	pale blue and white	6.5 to 7	banded chalcedony
Apatite	vivid blue-green	5	soft for a gemstone
Chrysocolla	blue-green	2 to 4	hydrated copper silicate; fragile
Hawk's eye	blue-grey, chatoyant	7	fibrous quartz; do not saw

A few details

Lapis lazuli is a rock (lazurite, white calcite, golden pyrite), whose deep blue gave painters their ultramarine. Sodalite resembles lapis, but has no pyrite and has white veins. Turquoise is a porous copper aluminium phosphate. Larimar is a blue pectolite, found only in the Dominican Republic. Aquamarine is a blue beryl (its Latin name means “sea water”). Angelite is anhydrite and transforms on contact with water. Kyanite has a hardness that varies with direction (4.5 to 5 along its length, more across it). Commercial blue topaz is almost always a colourless topaz that has been irradiated and then heated. Azurite is a copper mineral: handle it with care (see precautions).

What blue suggests, across cultures

Blue was long a difficult and expensive colour. In the Middle Ages, ultramarine blue was laboriously extracted from lapis lazuli imported from Iran and Afghanistan: it was the most costly colour, which partly explains why painters dressed the Virgin Mary's cloak in it. In 1826, Jean-Baptiste Guimet succeeded in synthesising it, which made it affordable. In ancient Egypt, lapis was highly prized, and dark blue evoked the sea while pale blue evoked the sky. In Hinduism, the god Krishna is depicted with blue skin. In several regions of the eastern Mediterranean, blue eye-shaped beads are worn against the “evil eye”. Lastly, according to surveys dating back to the late 19th century, blue is the favourite colour of more than half of Westerners.

In modern wellbeing traditions, blue is linked to the throat chakra (and indigo to the third eye), to communication and calm. These are recent conventions. See the throat chakra.

Treatments, dyes and imitations

Turquoise: very often stabilised with resin, sometimes reconstituted from dust, and frequently imitated by dyed howlite or magnesite (“turquenite”).
Lapis lazuli: wax or resin, dye, and imitations (glass, plastic, dyed jasper). A blue that is too uniform, with no pyrite or veins, is suspicious.
Blue topaz: irradiation then heating, which are common and accepted if disclosed.
Aquamarine: heating to remove green tints; stable.
Larimar: imitations in glass or dyed materials exist.
Agates and dyed quartz in vivid blue.

For simple guidance, see real or fake stone.

Care and pairings

Hard blues (sapphire, topaz, aquamarine) are rinsed in lukewarm water; turquoise, lapis and angelite are wiped dry (see stones that fear water). Blue pairs with orange, its complementary colour (orange stones), with white and with grey. The purification table gives the precautions for each stone.