Lajward Haar - Lapis Lazuli Brass Necklace

From the Hala collection by Orah Jewels and Crafts, Lajward Haar takes its name from lajward, the Sindhi and Urdu word for lapis lazuli, and haar meaning garland or necklace. The face carries flame shaped motifs linked in rhythmic succession across a chain, echoing the interlocking geometry found in Hala's shrine tilework. At its center, a pendant mirrors the same ornamental structure, the stone enclosed within a brass frame that holds it without overpowering its color.

The stone is natural Lapis Lazuli, sourced from Badakhshan, Afghanistan, the region that has supplied the world's finest lapis for over six thousand years. Lapis is a metamorphic rock composed primarily of lazurite, the feldspathoid mineral responsible for its deep indigo saturation, along with calcite, which lightens and clouds the matrix, and pyrite, which appears as bright golden flecks distributed across the surface. The color is not produced by a single mineral but by the proportion and distribution of these three materials: a high lazurite content with minimal calcite and evenly distributed pyrite is the standard of quality. Lapis from Badakhshan achieves this balance at high altitude, where metamorphic conditions produce stones with a depth of blue that cannot be replicated in other deposits. Historically, Badakhshan lapis traveled the ancient Silk Road to Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the courts of South Asia, ground into ultramarine pigment and set into royal jewelry for millennia. In Lajward Haar, the stone appears as a single shaped cabochon, its surface presenting the blue matrix with natural variation in the calcite and pyrite distribution.

The necklace and pendant are cast in brass, a metal long used in Sindhi ornamental traditions for its golden warmth and structural reliability. The flame motifs on the chain are individually formed and linked, giving the necklace a graduated movement that falls naturally at the collarbone. The pendant hangs centered, its proportions balanced so the stone reads as the focal point of the composition rather than an afterthought within the setting. The chain is 22 inches, a length that positions the pendant at the upper chest.

Made at the Orah Jewels and Crafts facility in Lahore. Orah Jewels sources its lapis lazuli directly from Badakhshan through a trade relationship built over twelve years, selecting stones by lazurite saturation, calcite distribution, and surface quality before cutting begins in Lahore. One piece.

Stone: Natural Lapis Lazuli (Badakhshan, Afghanistan)
Metal: Brass
Length: 22 Inches