Lapis and Heishi Five Strand Santo Domingo Necklace

Revered for thousands of years as a stone associated with wisdom, truth, and inner strength, lapis lazuli has long been one of the world’s most treasured materials. Our Lapis and Heishi Five Strand Santo Domingo Necklace celebrates that extraordinary history through five abundant strands of rich Afghan lapis, handmade in the jewelry tradition of Santo Domingo Pueblo (Kewa Pueblo) and finished with a sterling silver clasp. The intense royal and cobalt blues are interrupted naturally by lighter mineral markings and occasional golden-toned pyrite, giving every bead its own character and depth.

The lapis used here comes from Afghanistan, home to some of the oldest and most celebrated lapis deposits in the world. Afghan lapis has been traded since antiquity and was coveted across ancient Egypt, Persia, Mesopotamia, and the great trading routes connecting Central Asia with the wider world. Today, fine Afghan material remains especially admired for its saturated blue. The beads in this necklace have been individually hand cut into an elongated rectangular tube, or rectangular bar, shape, rather than the more familiar round or disc-shaped bead. This unusual geometric cut gives the five strands a beautifully architectural quality.

That shape also makes the craftsmanship particularly noticeable. Creating small, consistent rectangular beads from natural stone requires considerable control: each piece must be cut, shaped, drilled, smoothed, and polished while preserving enough material to maintain its form. The artisan must then arrange hundreds of individual elements so the five strands fall naturally together rather than competing with one another. Small heishi spacers punctuate the lapis, adding rhythm and connecting the necklace to the long tradition of meticulous bead and shell work for which Santo Domingo artists are renowned.

Jean Marie was immediately captivated by this piece and personally selected it for its remarkable color, unusual hand-cut beads, and dramatic five-strand construction. Her appreciation for Santo Domingo jewelry comes not simply from how a piece looks, but from understanding the patience, skill, and cultural continuity behind its making. In this necklace, she saw something particularly special: an ancient stone from the mountains of Afghanistan transformed by hand into a distinctly Southwestern work of wearable art. It is a meeting of histories—lapis with a story stretching back millennia and Santo Domingo craftsmanship carrying its own generations of knowledge forward.

Length 23.5"

Made in New Mexico, USA