Choosing your perfect blue gemstone for jewellery: three beautiful stones to consider 

Blue gemstones exist in almost every shade from ice to indigo, so how do you decide which will be the best one to suit you? We’ll share some insights about three of our favourite semi-precious stones, so that you can find the perfect choice for your next piece of jewellery. 💙

Research shows that blue has a calming effect on our minds, and it can represent loyalty and trust, making it ideal to wear for events like first dates and job interviews. Plus, it makes a wonderful ‘something blue’ for brides (with added bonus points whether you buy a new item of jewellery or lend a treasured piece for the wedding day – it can double up as either ‘something new’ or ‘something borrowed’!)

As a jeweller based in Cornwall, you probably won’t be surprised to hear how important the sea is here at Jordan Lily Designs HQ – we can’t resist celebrating it in handmade jewellery designs!

For the Gemstone Necklace designs, we couldn’t narrow it down to just a single blue … so the collection includes three semi-precious blue stones, each set in recycled eco silver: lapis lazuli, blue goldstone and blue onyx. Here’s what makes these stones special: 

1. Blue goldstone jewellery

So deep it’s almost black, blue goldstone is formed by mixing glass and copper to create an intense glittery blue. It’s a man-made gemstone that has existed since at least medieval times – folklore says it was accidently invented by a monk spilling the copper while making glass, which is why another name for goldstone is ‘monkstone’.

The copper creates tiny sparkles scattered throughout the stone, so it’s almost as if you’re looking through a tiny telescope to gaze at distant stars across the galaxy. It has a gorgeous shimmer, but quite understated and subtle too, so we think it works beautifully for star-lovers and modern minimalists alike. 

2. Lapis lazuli jewellery

Lapis lazuli also has a celestial look, like a night sky with golden stars, but with a completely different feel. If blue goldstone is like seeing deep space through a NASA telescope, then lapis lazuli is more like looking up into an intense evening sky over mountains or wide plains. It has plenty of sparkle too, from little flecks of iron pyrite, but these form naturally in the earth which makes the arrangement unique to each stone. So while blue goldstone tends to have a uniform shimmer, lapis lazuli has a natural pattern that’s more like the Northern lights, shifting and flaring.  

Back in the day, lapis lazuli was used to make the most expensive pigment in the world: ultramarine. It’s actually why Christian art often shows Mary dressed in vivid blue, because the artists wanted to honour her in their paintings by using this incredibly expensive colour. (They had to grind away the all the shiny iron pyrite in order to produce the best paint – fortunately for us, the sparkles only enhance the stones when used for jewellery!)

3. Blue onyx jewellery

From night skies to a sunny day: our last pick is blue onyx. It’s the brightest of the three, and this would be our top gemstone choice for someone who’s drawn to the sea... it has that vibrant blue of a clear summer’s sky stretching over the waves. If you’re looking for an eye-catching pop of colour, it would be a wonderful statement piece, but we’d also love to see it layered up with nautical jewellery for a boho-mermaid look!

Are you a stargazer or a sea-lover? Let us know which gemstone you’d choose!