Larimar Stone - What is it and Where Does It Come From

Larimar stones or dolphin stones are a rare form of Pectolite (a white to gray mineral) that is found only on the Domician Republic of Caribbean island. The general colour of this stone varies from white to green blue and sometimes dark blue.

Geological Specifications

The Larmiar stone is one of the Pectolites. This stone has a moss hardness of 5 to 7, while the darkest being the closest to 7, although most commonly the hardness varies between 4.5 and 5. It has a triclinic formation of crystal with its colour ranging between several kinds of blues namely sky blue, green blue, light blue and deep blue; and a luster of Vitreous to Silky. Though not seen in its compact form, the stone has a perfect cleavage in two directions and finds extensive use in ornamental stones and semi precious stones.

History

On 22nd November of the year 1916 Father Miguel Domingo Fuertes Loren applied for approval of the Ministry of Mining Department of Domician Republic to mine for Larimar beads. But nobody paid heed to him and he was rejected. Then in 1974, the stone was rediscovered by Miguel Mendez and Peace Corps volunteer Norman Rilling. The stone was known to the natives for many days and they used to believe that it originates from the sea.
So, Miguel took the name of her daughter Larissa and took the Spanish word for ‘sea’ i.e. mar and combined them into forming Larimar. A few stones were found were at the coastal province of Barahona which were washed into the sea by Bahoruco river.

So an upstream search was performed and soon the Los Chupaderos mine was found. At present the mine is exploited by “Cooperative de Extractores de Larimar” and the “Associacion de Extractores de Larimar” and the raw material comes via the open market facility.

Why Unique

The Larimar stones find their use mainly in jewelry, the foremost reason being its beauty. Firstly, blue is a rare colour for gems and secondly, the gem itself is very rare as it is found only on the Domician Republic. The beauty and the low supply alone boost up its price as jewelry. It is typically mounted on silver (and rarely on gold) and offered as a Caribbean specialty.

The wholesale Larimar jewelry is also sold on other parts of the world. Moreover, the folklores and legends about this stone is often responsible for its uniqueness. Legend has it that this stone helps us view events from distant perspectives, promotes divisional wisdom and heals our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual body. It is even prescribed by some as a stress and anxiety remover.

With its jewelry having a growing market, mining of wholesale Larimar stones is a risky business for the miners, especially in the rainy season. Because of low funding, they have to use manual tools which can be extremely difficult and hazardous over time.

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