Watch a video of this specimen by following the Vimeo link below: https://vimeo.com/1182053121/5786edb4e3 Here is a beautiful lapis lazurite from Badakhsan, the world famous historical deposit in Afghanistan! It displays a focal shrap 1.7 cm crystal with intense indigo blue colour on white calcite matrix. Ex collection Lefebvre. Jean-Claude Lefebvre was born on May 8, 1942, in Liège. A graduate in geography, he began his career as a teacher before becoming a high school principal. A man of wide-ranging interests, he was passionate about astronomy, travel, and numismatics—as well as mineralogy, to which he devoted over thirty years, building his collection between 1980 and 2010. His approach was that of a rigorous and deeply committed autodidact. He initially developed his collection horizontally, aiming to represent as many mineral species as possible, more than 380 in total. He then refined it vertically, focusing on aesthetics, specimen integrity, and overall balance. He possessed a keen eye, that rare ability to instantly recognize the right piece, one that required no compromise. Among the highlights of his collection are an outstanding group of specimens from the Congo, along with a remarkable suite from Mont Saint-Hilaire, Canada, a legendary locality renowned for its rare species and complex crystal formations.