Lapis Lazuli featured in Vampire Diaries Series. Why?

I watch the Vampire Diaries tv show (which is also based upon the books). In the show/books the sunlight is lethal to vampires. Even a few seconds in sunlight can cause their exposed flesh to burn and blister.

However, the vampires who wear jewelry containing Lapis Lazuli can walk in the sunlight unharmed with no adverse effects. The jewelery item (or maybe it is the stone that is in the jewelry piece?) has to also first be enchanted by a witch. The witch who puts the spell on it can also undo it. It seems that these items (usually a ring or a medallion hanging from a chain) are very valuable and not easy to replace, unless of course, you can find and convince a knowledgeable witch to perform the spell for you.

I am very curious as to why Lapis Lazuli would be the gem that the writer chose to use. I have looked online but I haven't found an answer.

Does anyone know if this stone have certain properties that would make it a good choice for this (fictional) situation?

Of course, it could just be that L.J. Smith just decided that Lapis Lazuli was a pretty blue stone.

I also if wonder if there are other stones out there that would have been better choices. Any ideas?

Maybe because it looks like the night sky so it's a bit like carrying a bit of night-time around with you and if you're a vamp then that could be some sort of charm that protects you from the day.

Sulis said:

Maybe because it looks like the night sky so it's a bit like carrying a bit of night-time around with you and if you're a vamp then that could be some sort of charm that protects you from the day.

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Well, it turns out that I'm not the only one who is wondering this same thing - I found another site where this question was posed as well! Someone there replied that Stefan says something in one of the books that basically corresponds with what you said, Sulis!

(This is what he/she stated that Stefan says, although I don't think that this is an exact quote.)

“Lapiz lazuli is a stone that has the color of night, this way we get to have the dark blue of the night with us even in the daylight.”

And another poster provided this bit of information which they found here:
"Lapis Lazuli was believed to be a sacred stone, buried with the dead to protect and guide them in the afterlife.”

Upon finding that link and doing some more reading, I discovered that lapis lazuli "can easily be scratched or chipped. Water can dissolve the stone's protective coatings..."

Another online resource warned wearers to "avoid long periods of sun exposure, which can dull the beautiful color of this stone."

Not too sure if that would be the best type of stone to have to wear in a piece of jewelry that you may have to wear everyday for hundreds of years

Surely there has to be other stones (more durable ones!) that would have worked for this storyline, even if it isn't a pretty blue

Lapis Lazuli also has little golden sparkles in it though so it really does look like the night sky .
I've worn a lapis and silver ring for the last 10 years or so and it seems like a very durable stone to me. I have a black agate necklace that has silver inclusions and that looks like a cloudy night sky.. I reckon I may be a secret vampire .

Sulis said:

Lapis Lazuli also has little golden sparkles in it though so it really does look like the night sky .
I've worn a lapis and silver ring for the last 10 years or so and it seems like a very durable stone to me. I have a black agate necklace that has silver inclusions and that looks like a cloudy night sky.. I reckon I may be a secret vampire .

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It sounds very pretty! I haven't seen one in person before. The pictures I saw online really didn't show the little golden sparkles ( I suppose they look like stars.)

I don't know, I'm sure lapis lazuli is fine for a human (especially if you take good care of your jewelry and don't wear it everyday) but lapis lazuli just sounds like a risky stone for a vampire to have to depend upon, especially for the vampires who inhabit Mystic Falls who, of course, end up in all sorts of trouble and are very physically active.

After surviving all of those threats and hazards that face a vampire, maybe one day what will do a Salvatore brother in is not a stake to the heart but a casual walk at high noon and, oops, the stone in his ring just cracks. Of course, that would be rather anti-climatic for a book or tv show so I can't see that actually happening.

Black agate - now that is something I can see a vampire wearing! I actually have a black agate necklace. Maybe I'm a secret vampire too

I found this archaeological data in the wonderful website “Glimmerdream”: “A stone that appears in many passages of the Egyptian Book of the Dead (written about 1240 BC, the Book of the Dead is the name given to a group of mortuary spells written on sheets of papyrus covered with magical texts and accompanying illustrations, placed with the dead in order to help them pass through the dangers of the underworld) Lapis Lazuli,-- often in the shape of an eye set in gold -- was considered an amulet of great power as it represented the eye of the Sun God Horus (son of Osiris and Isis). The Eye of Horus was believed to ward off sickness and bring the dead to life, which is why it was often placed in the wrappings of mummies over the incision where the embalmers had removed the internal organs. It was also common practice to place a lapis amulet, engraved with a chapter of the Book of the Dead, over the area where the heart had been removed, prior to the sealing of the sarcophagus. Lapis lazuli was thought to possess life-giving powers in ancient Egypt. The Book of the Dead describes Horus, the hawk-like son of the God Osiris destroying all evil. After his deed he appears in the heavenly firmament in the form of a hawk and his torso is made of "blue stone." Blue was considered a prestigious 'divine' colour and 'blue frit' -- a synthetic pigment made by firing silica, copper and an alkali together -- was used in conjunction with lapis lazuli for painting the eyes, hair and crowns of the pharaohs' statues and sarcophagi. Both lapis and its colour were associated with the night sky. The rising sun was sometimes called the "child of lapis lazuli." The stone and the colour were also were associated with the primordial waters. The Nile -- arguably the single most important element of ancient Egypt -- is rendered in blue colour on grave paintings so blue is thought to represent fertility. Blue coloured hippopotamuses produced by artisans were popular as symbols for the life-giving river”
Ciao!
Amatafrances