Larimar

Larimar was first used on the island of Hispaøola by the native Indians, the Tainos. They used this beautiful blue gemstone as an adornment, and for carving small figures long before the discovery of the ñNew Worldî.

Unfortunately, the discovery of the New World precipitated the loss of the old one. Both the Tainos and their blue stone disappeared, lost in time. The Tainos sadly were never to emerge again. Fortunately, a Spanish priest, Miguel Fuentes Loren, who had some geological training rediscovered Larimar in 1916. He had been assigned a post at the church in Barahona province not far from the Larimar deposits. Like his predecessors, the Tainos, Padre Loren was intrigued with this beautiful, unusual blue material and proceeded to have its composition analyzed by sending samples to the Geological Institute of Spain.

After the priest departed, Larimar again fell into obscurity until 1974, when Norman Reilly, an American Peace Corps Volunteer became intrigued with this unusual blue phenomena. Mr Reilly sought the help of a local geologist, Miguel Mendez, to determine how this mineral was formed and why it occurs only within one particular square kilometer of the entire earthÍs surface, an intriguing mystery to say the least!!!

Miguel being somewhat of a romantic, combined his daughter's name, "Larisa" and Mar, the Spanish word for sea. Hence Larimar was the name given to his new (re)discovery. Miguel also realized LarimarÍs commercial possibilities and began convincing local artisans to use Larimar as an alternative to amber in local hand-crafted jewelry. LarimarÍs unique beautiful blue color was an instant success and quickly became the stone of choice for many artisans' jewelry.

The mine is located near the top of one summit that is part of a chain of volcanic mountains that runs from Jamaica, goes sub-oceanic, then re-emerges on the southwest side of Hispaøola near Barahona province.

The SST groups have not visited the mine, but an interesting phenomena occurs on Bahoruco beach, directly perpendicular to the mine. A river washes small nuggets of Larimar down to the ocean, and the pebble beach polishes these nuggets and the waves washes them back to shore. So by sifting through the pebbles, one can find these nuggets. It takes a bit of perseverance, and the local children are far better at spotting the stones, but finding a handful after an hour's search is quite satisfying.