Inexpensive luxury: a stone larimar

The Larimar stone, whose photo is below, is a semiprecious unique mineral that is mined in the Dominican Republic. This country is located on the island of Haiti, located in the Caribbean Sea. From the point of view of geology, larimar refers to one of the varieties of calcium silicate, known as pectolite. It should be noted that this mineral differs from others in its unusual color. Scientists have proved that the larimar stone originated as a result of volcanic activity, so it can be found in other states. Together with this pectolites with blue color occur exclusively from the Dominican Republic.

The first official historical mention of this stone dates back to 1916, when several copies of it were found in one of the Spanish priests Miguel Domingo Lorena. It is possible that before they used the local Indians. Having weighed the possibility of substantial potential earnings, the cleric turned to local authorities in order to obtain permission for the extraction of this variety of pectolites. Now there is no exact information as to whether this request was granted, but the larimar stone for more than twenty years after that was not mentioned in any sources.

In 1974, the active promotion of blue pectolite to world markets began. It all started with the fact that several of his designs were discovered by a well-known jeweler, a member of the Peace Corps, Miguel Mundes on one of the coasts of the Barahona province. The name of the mineral is associated with the same person. It is believed that the Larimar stone was named after his daughter Larissa, because the word "mar", translated from Spanish means "the sea". True, there is another, unofficial, its name is Delphi stone.

According to the inhabitants of the Dominican Republic, the blue stones on the shore appeared due to the sea. In fact, everything turned out to be not quite so. The fact is that all of them are carried by the river Bahoruko. After it was proved, in the upper part of it began to mine a larimar stone. As of today, about ten kilometers south-west of the town of Barahona is located about two thousand pits of the deposit, which is called Los Chupaderos. It should be noted that it is the only source of these blue pectolites on the planet. They are mined only by hand, without the use of any specialized equipment. At the same time, when the rainy season starts, the water is filled with pits, so the work becomes dangerous for life because of the threat of landslides. An interesting nuance is that on the territory of the island of Haiti , one can also find pectolites of white and greenish color.

Despite its unusual and unique, the larimar is a stone, the price of which is not so high. For example, a ring in which there is an insert from it, can do to the buyer in an amount that does not exceed one hundred US dollars. Together with this, everyone who wants to have an ornament with such a mineral should hurry, because his reserves will be exhausted very soon.