r/Afghan • u/Bear1375 Diaspora • 12d ago
History Sar-e-Sang, Afghanistan - Ancient source of lapis lazuli.
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u/alolanbulbassaur 12d ago
I’m upset over this because my dad said I can’t get a raw chunk of lapis because you need a land permit/grant from the gov to own and operate these and apparently there’s ladders you have to climb to get a raw chunk of blue rock.
(If I get a polished and carved one I might get accused of having plastic)
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u/creamybutterfly Diaspora 10d ago
Cabochon lapis is very traditional and provides a beautiful lustre :)
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u/creamybutterfly Diaspora 11d ago edited 10d ago
When I had my Kiz İsteme, I made it clear to my husband that I wanted a modern engagement ring- platinum, pavé with a big diamond. It is beautiful, and I still love it. So in the run up to the nişan, he made one custom for me.
However, I didn’t know that among some tribes in Afghanistan, it is traditional for the bride’s family to buy the husband a ring in exchange. Go figure, I come from such a background and my parents insisted I had to get a ring for him too. So I worried for ages about what to buy him, what would suit him, whether it would look nice. Silver? Gold? Something nice and basic?
I remember visiting his family home informally when I looked at a photograph of his grandfather, the village imam who died ten years ago. My husband was very close to him and he told me things weren’t the same after he passed. I then studied the photo carefully: he wore a big silver ring on his right hand in the style of the prophet, with a large reddish stone embedded in the middle.
A light bulb went off then- those rings were very Ottoman but they were also very Afghan. So I secretly took a photo of it then went back home and asked my parents if it was possible to purchase such a ring for him to pay homage to our backgrounds and his grandfather. My mother directed me to the Internet but I told her I wanted something authentic and straight from Afghanistan.
She was surprised, but said she knew some grassroots organisations which retrained Afghan women in Badakhshan as jewellers. I eagerly asked if they could make it and she agreed. It came at a markup but anything to support these women and give him something authentic, right? Thankfully they made a beautiful replica of his grandfather’s ring, but instead of that red stone I asked them to put a lapis to honour my heritage as well.
I remember giving it to him at my nişan and he recognised it immediately. He nearly cried. I remember explaining every component and thought that went into it- that the carvings were copied from his grandfather’s ring, that it was silver to fit religious sumptuary laws and that the stone was changed to reflect my own heritage to make it his own instead of a 1:1 copy.
He loved that ring very much and wore it immediately even though it was a tad big for him. He also wore it on our wedding. Unfortunately he cannot wear it nor the wedding band daily due to the nature of his job, but he loves putting it on at home, when we go out or to special occasions- the little piece of Afghanistan that I gifted him.