The Larimar Story  

Larimar is found in only one place in the world – one square kilometer in the Dominican Republic – making it one of the rarest gemstones in the world. It is thought to be 20 times rarer than tanzanite.

Larimar, a volcanic stone is actually a form of pectolite. Although pectolite are to be had in nearly every hemisphere, none have the unique volcanic blue coloration of Larimar. This makes it one of the rarest novelties known. Pectolite is normally gray or white. Yet, Larimar is a beautiful blue pectolite. It is interesting to ponder the fact that the series of events that created this beautiful blue wonder have only occurred one time, in one place throughout the history of the world!

Larimar’s beautiful colors mirror the blue and white shades of the ocean and sky. No two stones are alike, each piece is unique, with its own natural beauty.

Larimar was first discovered in 1974 by an American Peace Corp. worker and a Dominican geologist, Miguel Mendez, although the inhabitants and their ancestors at the location were long aware of the stone. They had once traveled upstream until they came up against a rock formation that seemed to be the source of this blue precious stone, and subsequently gathered the stones on the beach for decades.

The name “Larimar” was given to the stone by Miguel Mendez, combining his daughter’s name LARIssa and MAR the Spanish word for sea.

Mining the stone is extremely difficult. Not only does the location of the mines make them extremely difficult to access but the area is subject to the hurricane season, often causing the mines to be closed for 5 months out of the year. Also, it is believed by some that the mines may run dry in the next 8 to 10 years.

There are several factors typically considered in grading the stone, with color and patterning being the primary ones:

Color

Patterning

Luster

Luminosity

Clarity

Translucence

Chatoyance

There is no one particular factor that determines the grade; it is a combination of factors. The depth of color alone may not “make or break” the grade; the pattern and luminosity may bring up the grade of a stone whose color may not be as deep as others.

Once the rock is excavated, it is cut and graded. Generally, less than 10% is of jewelry quality. In fact, we only uses the top 3% of the mined stone.