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What color is the sky? Blue, right? It’s always been and always will be. Even though blue is one of the most visible colors around us, it's one of the last color names to develop in most languages. According to linguists, this had to do with the immense difficulty to produce a blue pigment or dye for everyday use. For a long time, the most reliable way to produce blue paint was to ground down lapis lazuli, a semi-precious stone that has been mined for millennia in Afghanistan. The resultant pigment, called ultramarine, produces a vibrant blue color. Due to its beautiful hue, and exorbitant price, Renaissance and Baroque painters used it almost exclusively to depict the robes of the Virgin Mary.Lapis lazuli dials are among the most coveted stone dials produced by Rolex. The vast majority of them appeared in Day-Dates. A few weeks ago we offered an exceedingly rare 18k white gold Datejust with lapis dial, this week we have another one in 18k yellow-gold!Stone dials are beautiful due to the natural variation of the stones used, but they’re also quite fragile. Many of them have developed cracks or rips over the years. Therefore, a flawless dial will increase the value greatly. This lapis dial is in faultless condition and the most desirable variation of lapis lazuli. Lapis lazuli often occurs in nature with deposits of two other minerals: calcite (which shows as white veins in the stone) and pyrite (which look like gold veins). This dial contains no calcite deposits and some evenly spaced golden pyrite flecks. Stone dials typically contain no markers and together with the gold and gold applied Rolex coronet the dial takes on a majestic blue and gold hue.The lapis dial is housed in a thick 18k yellow-gold case with matching fluted bezel. To complete the package, the watch comes on a period-correct 18k yellow-gold Jubilee bracelet.