Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Hi everybody, just a quick note to tell you that we have decided to include in one of thelarimarshop.com sections a FAQ section to make it easier for our customers to have a reply to their questions at hand!

Nevertheless, we will always be happy to answer any special question that does not appear in this FAQ list.

1. Have your Larimar stones been treated in any way?

Our Larimar stones are pure, genuine, carefully selected at the mines in Bahoruco, southwest of the Dominican Republic, the only place on earth so far, where this unique, awesome stone is found and mined. In the Dominican Republic exists no dyeing stone practice.

2. What is a Larimar specimen stone?

A Larimar specimen stone is a stone where the Larimar has developed in different blue and blue green shades, mixed with other materials or inclusions such as hematite or red dendrites (like these earrings), white calcite, natrolite, fossilized wood, copper, etc. creating gorgeous, fabulous, nature designs. Every Larimar specimen stone is unique!

3. Where are you located?

We are located in Santo Domingo, main city of the Dominican Republic; The Dominican Republic shares the eastern side of the Hispaniola Island; Haiti is on the western side!

4. How is your jewelry made?

Our jewelry is made with top quality Larimar stone brought directly from the mines, to our workshop, where young, native artisans cut, shape, polish and mount this semi-precious gem in 925 silver or 14K gold bezel cups.

5. Why should I trust you?

We have been in the Larimar business for many years and we guarantee our jewelry! Our main goal has been and is to make our customers happy with each purchase. To treat each Larimar lover with top quality customer service and at the end gain a new friend.

6. Do I have to pay customs fee?

Customs regulations are different in every country. We recommend you to check with your customs official office. We are willing to assist you with any shipping instructions for customs purposes. We are not responsible for any customs fee or tax in any country.

7. Do you offer express shipping?

Yes, we offer express shipping with guaranteed delivery of 1 – 2 working days inside US and 1 – 4 working days outside US.

8. How do I receive my order?

All orders are beautifully gift wrapped, packed in a small white box, decorated with an aqua blue lace or a raffia lace, to create an exciting moment when you or that person you have gifted with your order receive your package! In the box we include card with a brief history of the Larimar stone and care tips! The Larimar jewel is placed in a white organza pull pouch.

9. Do you make more than one piece of each design featured in your store? 

Most of the Larimar jewelry we are offering are one of a kind, unique in its design, in its blue shade and pattern; if you see a piece that catches your eyes, don’t let it go! When we have more than one unit in stock of the Larimar jewelry displayed, we indicate quantity available, as well as the variety of blue shades and patterns.

10. How does your reversible Larimar and Amber reversible ring work?

This ring is our best seller, loved by all; the 925 silver bezel cup has on one side Larimar and on the other side Amber with two silver shanks to help turn the bezel cup to one of the two stones you want to wear.

11. How do I take care of my Larimar silver jewelry?

It is recommendable to clean your Larimar jewel after wearing it or from time to time, to avoid accumulation of body oil and dirt. Use a jewelry cleaning or polishing cloth to clean the stone and silver.

You can also wash your Larimar piece with clean fresh water and a few drops of mild soap, using a soft brush to clean dirt from the silver setting, rinse and dry with a soft cloth. The Larimar stone might turn more blue due to the water absorption of the stone.

Avoid long sun exposure, salt water and chemicals. When using household and any sort of chemicals, don’t wear your Larimar jewelry to stay away from any possible damage on the stone and/or silver setting. Treasure your Larimar jewelry for this is an awesome, unique stone and there is no reliable source in the Dominican Republic that can secure that we will still find/have Larimar stone for many years to come!!

We finally made it with 14K Gold

Introducing our first Larimar and 14K gold collection!

There is no standard quality guide for our Larimar stone in the Dominican Republic, so far the only place on earth where this unique blue semi-precious stone is mined.

With its ample variety of blue, as well as, blue green shades and patterns the Larimar stone is undoubtedly an awesome art of nature, pleasing the blue tone preference of every admirer.

However, the truth is that the deep blue shades, similar to the azure shade, are considered the top quality, for they are rare and scarce!

Several years ago, before gold price started to climb, many Dominican artisans could afford producing both 925 silver and 14K gold Larimar jewelry and to this end they only used the deep blue Larimar stones for 14K gold and the lighter blue colors for 925 silver!

Larimar Happy Hour Rings

But all this changed when the gold price became unreachable for the average local artisans, who decided to use all blue Larimar quality type they can get and buy for 925 silver jewelry.

The Larimar Shop was born after the gold price reached its highest peak and in view of that people were inclined toward buying silver instead of gold! So we decided to only sell 925 silver Larimar jewelry, but during all this time we were kind of tempted to do also some 14K gold items! 

There are three foreign gold companies exploiting the gold mines in the Dominican Republic (has it all) so we finally, very timidly, took a step forward and decided to complete the beauty of our Larimar stone with 14K gold frame, a perfect combination honoring both stone and metal mined in the Dominican Republic!

Larimar and 14K Gold Pendant

We have been excited with this new challenge, producing some of our best sellers the reversible “happy hour” rings, the Dominican classic teardrop pendants and earrings, as well as, gorgeous stone pendants with 14K gold. Of course, the prices for these items are for wealthy pockets, as you might understand, but we have to give those gold and Larimar lovers their privilege to pay the price!! 

We did a humble 14K gold Larimar jewelry start, firmly looking forward to making other 14K gold designs according to the support we receive from our dear customers!

Discover the new thelarimarshop.com

Yes, we are beyond excited!

Desktop view

When we installed our virtual Larimar store The Larimar Shop a few years ago,  we were very excited, full of expectations, ready to fight the good battle to conquer customers from all over the world, with top quality Larimar stone and excellent Dominican craftsmanship,  good service loaded with tropical enthusiasm, efficient delivery time and more!!

From time to time we encountered some difficulty with our website, notwithstanding we did a lot of constant internet search to learn more about optimizing our The Larimar Shop site to make it an ideal place for every customer interested in our marvelous Larimar stone!  Through all our efforts during these few years  we understood that it was definitely necessary to make a new site contemplating all the desires of modern, active, updated customers!

Our hard and dedicated work has given birth to our radiant new The Larimar Shop site, which makes it easy and interesting for customers all over the world to find, select, buy that special Larimar jewel they were looking for or just fell in love with!

Tablet view

Here're some highlighted new features:

• More friendly webpage where you'll have a better view of all our handcrafted Larimar pieces.
• Now you can shop either from your Desktop or your Mobile device as our new website has been made mobile friendly for you to have the greatest experience when shopping with us.
• Now you can share all the items you love on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Google + and much more, just choose!
• New options for creating your Whislist and give a hint to whoever you like!
• New filter that allows you to surf through all Larimar rings by sizes, now you can!
• Compare one item from another and select your best option!
• Want to see what's on trend check out our Tag tools and find out what's everybody craving for.

Subscribe to our Newsletter and don't miss the fun! We are now introducing our Weekly newsletter keeping all Larimar lovers updated with the latest arrivals, special offers, promotions and more!

Our main goal is to capture all those Larimar customers who are looking for genuine Larimar stone jewelry, with good craftsmanship, variety of designs, sizes, prices, traded by honest, transparent vendors, guaranteeing their purchase!

We invite you to share with us the experience of the new The Larimar Shop, a true Dominican shop with genuine Larimar stone in all its variety of blue and blue green shade, designed and handmade by local young artisans!

Larimar Stone the Blue Jewel of the Caribbean and its Synonyms

Human beings tend to love phantasy, mystery and all sort of things that will arise curiosity, encountered feelings, hidden emotions, etc. involved in a person, in a place, in a subject, in a religion, in a movement, in stones be it precious or not!

Our Larimar stone is not an exception to this fact and so, "PIedra Azul", meaning Blue Stone, is the first name this unique blue pectolite received from the locals of Barahona, southwest of the Dominican Republic, who found small pieces of this blue stone ocassionally.

Larimar stone ring

When finally this blue pectolite, semi-precious stone, was rediscovered by Miguel Mendez, from the Dominican Republic, and Norman Rilling, a Peace Corps Volunteer from USA, in 1974 it is given the new name of Larimar, a combination of the name of Mendez's daughter Larissa and the word Mar, meaning sea!.

Once this stone starts becoming known abroad, its blue intriguing beauty strikes many hearts and interests, many strategies are used to promote our awesome #Larimar with all its variety of blue hues, mimicking our Caribbean sea waters, gorgeous patterns, which also can include some white, grey shades and inclusion such as red dendrites, copper, calcite, resulting many times in impressing Larimar specimens!!

And so we find that our Larimar stone has  been baptized with different names for different purposes or reasons!

Caribbean Turquoise

To our understanding this given  name is for commercial purposes!

Lorimar

Somebody must have misspelled the name Larimar and decided to keep the name Lorimar, maybe because there was already money invested and any correction would involve more money!

Stefilia's Stone

Who or what gave birth to this name is still unknown to us.

Dolphin Stone

Handcrafted Larimar Bracelet

This name is connected with metaphysical beliefs, attributing healing & spiritual properties to this stone

"Some believe that Larimar is the blue stone with extraordinary healing powers that Edgard Cayce predicted would be discovered in the Caribbean, where he said part of Atlantis could be found"

"Larimar has excellent energy for working with sea creatures of all kind. It is particularly good for communicating with dolphins."

"as dolhpins were associated with Atlantis and Larimar was used as a tool to enhance communicaction with them"

Atlantis Stone

This is the most powerful name used for Larimar to exalt its long list of healing and spiritual powers according to the New Age and Metaphysical philosophies

Edgard Cayce, called the sleeping prophet, (1877-1945), mentioned that a blue stone of Atlantean origin, would be found in a Caribbean island, which was part of the lost continent of Atlantis!

The blue beauty of Larimar stone is very appealing to people all over the world and its demand has grown enormously and increasing its cost constantly.

If in the #Dominican Republic locals would know the healing and spiritual properties attributed to our Larimar stone, we are sure, everybody would be wearing a Larimar piece, with or without silver, but unfortunately very few even know the existence of this marvelous stone!!

Is it maybe that the volcanic origin of this stone has a chemical reaction when in contact with our skin that benefits us positively?

Los Haitises National Park

Los Haitises National Park, located on the northeast coast of the Dominican Republic is an ecological paradise. Here you can see secluded beaches, mangrove swamps, islets, and a multitude of caverns.These caverns are adorned with pictographs and petroglyphs. The culture(s) which created these artworks remain unidentified, some of them possibly predating the Taínos. A grand diversity of endemic flora and fauna are present in this park, and some of these islets are part of the birds sanctuary.

It is a protected virgin forest with little road access. The number of tourists allowed is limited, but since 2000 it has become a popular ecotourism attraction. Haitis (singular) means highland or mountain range in the Taino language, although the elevation of the park's hills ranges from 98 ft.

This protected area connects you with nature in any ways: from a spectacular boat ride through it’s breathtaking mangroves, exploration of the virgin tropical rainforest and caverns to a dip in a secluded beach right in the middle of Los Haitises National Park. 

Don't forget to include this experience when visiting our tropical paradise, the Dominican Republic.

DOMINICAN "R" US

Do you like to watch?

People all over the world like to watch but Dominicans like to watch a little bit more and we give you the opportunity to watch too!! We have in the #DominicanRepublic, whale watching tours, bird watching tours, carnival watching tours and other watching tours. Right now its time for whale watching tours, which started in January until end of March.

Every winter, the majority of the North Atlantic Humpback whale population (approximately 12,000 whales), migrate between 2,000 and 4,000 miles from their northern feeding grounds in the Gulf of Maine, the east coast of Canada, Greenland and Iceland, to the warm Caribbean waters of the Samana Bay on the north coast of the Dominican Republic to reproduce.
Due to the mating season, from late January to late March, males are very active to "show off" to the females, making Samana one of the best places in the world to whale watch, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

If you are planning to come to this marvelous side of the Hispaniola island during this time, don't miss the unforgettable experience of watching these humpback whales, contact your travel agents to arrange this tour for you.

Dominican Carnival

During the months of February the city of Santo Domingo and different towns in the Dominican Republic celebrate carnival, one of the most colorful traditions and more cheerful festivities in the Dominican Republic. The origins of Carnival date back to 1520, during the colonial period. Some researchers say the first Carnival events took place as a celebration of a visit by Fray Bartolomé de las Casas, when its inhabitants disguised themselves as Moors and Christians. However, it wasn't always this way, between 1822 and 1844, costumes disappeared almost completely because of the Haitian occupation!!! After the country achieved its independence on February 27, 1844, the costumes were no longer associated with church celebrations. they evolved into actual carnivals.

Each town or city will exhibit their culture, folklore, and heritage in these parades with colorful disguises, music and dances; for example, the Guloyas or Buloyas from San Pedro de Macorís are part of the Dominican culture and history and they are considered as humanity cultural heritage (by the UNESCO). According to history, the Guloyas are descendants of the "cocolos" (black immigrants) who came from some British Caribbean islands and their main characteristics is their use of masks. The La Vega Carnival is the most popular and is definitely something that you don't want to miss. The Dominican Republic African heritage is reflected in the wildly colourful masks and costumes at La Vega Carnival, the masks from La Vega are unmistakable because they are extremely frightening, many times grotesque very elaborated and expensive; they are highly decorated with rhinestones and feathers and other materials, all handmade!! You will find merengue and salsa dancing at all the parades, every sunday of the month of February.

So, if you are going to visit the Dominican Republic in February, don't forget to include to watch one of these carnival's celebration and learn more about their traditions and cultures or plan with your travel agents for next year if you could not make it this time!!!

Larimar Stone Grades and Quality

According to all scientific studies, Larimar is a type of pectolite, or a rock composed largely of pectolite, an acid silicate 

Larimar Slab

hydrate of calcium and sodium. Although pectolite is found in many locations, none have the unique volcanic blue coloration of Larimar. This blue color, distinct from that of other pectolites, is the result of copper substitution for calcium Larimar is of volcanic origin, etc.

This stone will appear in different blue, blue green colors and there are also some that almost have a green jade color, but it is still Larimar! You also have the natural pattern varities, between light and deep blue, light blue and green, some with inclusions, such as hematite or red dendrites, with white to gray squarish patches, there are uncountable beautiful patterns Every time the Larimar rough stone is cut into slices or slabs, you will discover a new stunning one or two sided piece, it is just amazing; one can never get enough of this stone which mimicks so well our Caribbean sea waters and sky!

The hardness of this stone is between 5 to 8 in Moh´s scale; its hardness depends also of the light or deep blue colors, the darker stone is harder!

Marbel Larimar Pendant

Larimar Bracelet

Only 10 percent of the Larimar stone is suitable for jewelry after it has been cut and polished! This is one of the factors that makes this stone expensive

Larimar Double Stone Earrings

There is no standard specification for the different Larimar grades and all Larimar jewelry producers and vendors will clasify the grades according to their knowledge. However, not everybody knows this stone very good, believe me!! Even the Dominican artisans who have been working with Larimar for many, many years can be cheated by the miners if they buy uncut rough Larimar stone. Nowadays the Dominican artisans prefer to buy the Larimar in slabs and still they might be cheated with some cracked slabs!!

Lately many rough Larimar Stones are being exported to China and India, good and not good qualities Larimar, but the chinese and indians will use everything in order not to lose money!

For example: There is a Larimar Stone with an unstable blue color, which will change of color after mined because of lack of particular humidity and temperatur present in the área where it was found! Only if you are a connoisseur you will notice the difference of this Larimar Stone, which color will fade in short time due to lack of the humidity and temperature it needs.

Another data, most probably unknown, is that a transparent Larimar piece, very scarce indeed, belongs to gem quality! Many people ignore this, which is a pity because these pieces are rare, different and beautiful!

In order to secure good quality Larimar the Dominican artisans are now standing next to the pits waiting for the miners to appear with the Larimar stones they were able to find and they negotiate the price right there according, to the quality of the stone 

Marbel Larimar Pendant

It is important to avoid long sun exposure, salt water and chemicals to maintain the good quality of the Larimar Stone!

A Larimar stone which after years has kept its genuine color and/or became more blue, because of its location (cold or humid place), is a good quality Larimar no matter if it is deep or light blue, you did a good purchase!

The Truth About Larimar Mining in the Dominican Republic

Practically all Larimar jewelry vendors in the internet start their website with the story of Larimar; some of these vendors have visited the mine in the Dominican Republic, but others just make their own story with the information of their colleagues, some adding spiritual and healing properties to the Larimar stone.

Larimar Pendants

The fact is that the first person to note this blue stone in the mountains of Bahoruco, in the province of Barahona, southwest of the Dominican Republic was a Spanish priest in the year 1916 by the name of Miguel Domingo Fuertes Loren who reported this discovery to the Archbishop Nouel in the city of Santo Domingo. No importance was given to this stone called by the locals “blue stone” at that time and had to wait 58 years for Miguel Mendez, Dominican citizen, andthe geologist Norman Rilling, an American Peace Corps Volunteer, to be found and analyzed.

We can imagine the excitement of these two men with the discovery of these small blue stone pieces found in the alluvial of the Bahoruco river. This time the necessary arrangements were made to have this new stone scientifically investigated. In November 1974 the first research was made by the scientist Dr. Paul E. Desautels, Chief of the Mineral Department of the Smithsonian Institute, followed by several other scientists. They came to the conclusion that this blue stone corresponds to the pectolite family for the gemological properties are consistent with those reported for pectolite, with the rarity that Larimar is the onlypectolite with blue colors discovered until now in the whole world. Larimar falls under the category of semi-precious stone.

Larimar Bangles

The deposits of Larimar are all located in an area known as los Chenchenes in the mountains of Bahoruco. All mineral rights in the Dominican Republic belong to the government and all mining is permitted only by the concession from the Dominican Bureau of Mines. By the suggestion of this Bureau, two cooperatives were created to avoid disputes among the miners. This gesture from the Dominican government was with the idea to help locals of that area, which wereat the beginning farmers, to make their living.

Working in the mines can be very dangerous as they are poorly constructed and reinforced and very few safety measures are taken. 

In the past some European countries offered to modernize the mining process of Larimar and Dominican Government has in various occasion promised to cooperate and help the miners with the extraction of Larimar. Until now, theDominican authorities have no control of the working conditions and safety of the miners and no action is under way. Mining is still being done in a primitivemethod, using only pick, shovel and hammer to break the weathered basalt in search of Larimar veins, always with the hope to find top qualities for the manufacture of Larimar Jewelry. The quality and color of the Larimar extracted can vary from one area to another.

Larimar Necklace

There are tunnels and pits or holes; a pit can be as deep as 200 ft or more and fresh air is pumped in with diesel generators that keep the lights on. When the generators are going to be turned off, they advise the miners in the holes and tunnels and it might take up to twenty minutes or more for them to get out.

Previously the generators were small and a number of miners died because of lack of oxygen. The tunnels can be deep without a safety structure, collapsing in several occasions burying a number of miners alive.

Every hole or pit and tunnel has different owners and everybody knows whose hole is whose, despite the apparent disorganization. As an attraction the miners allow visitors to go down their shaft.

Larimar Heart Pendant

During the rainy season, the mines become flooded and as a result no Larimar can be extracted until they have dried out. It is really not known exactly how much Larimar is in the mine and conceivably, some believe the mine could become exhausted of the precious gem at any time, others forecast there is Larimar for a long time. No scientific investigation has been made about the extension of the Larimar deposits.

This uncertainty and occasional rumors surrounding Larimar availability, as well as its high demand due to the fact that it has become more widely known causefluctuations in its price. There is a kind of monopoly controlled by some Larimar dealers who are located in the area of the mines; they buy practically all the extracted Larimar stone from the miners and put prices on the different Larimar qualities. The rough Larimar stones are sorted out and priced according to size, quality, color, purity, demand, etc.

Larimar Dangle Earring

There are times when the local artisans have difficulties to obtain this semi-precious stone in order to make their Larimar jewelry, specially because of this silent monopoly. At the beginning the Dominican Bureau of Mines prohibited the exportation of uncut rough Larimar, but after time has past by, large quantities of rough Larimar is exported mainly to China, India and Indonesia where some buyers from the USA have their own Larimar Jewelry produced.

Larimar Stone Treasure of the Caribbean

Larimar was originally discovered in the year 1916 in Bahoruco/Barahona, southwest of the Dominican Republic, by the Spanish born priest Miguel Domingo Fuertes Loren, who reported this discovery to the archbishop Nouel in Santo Domingo. No mining action was taken at that time.



It was not until 1974 the American Peace Corps Volunteer, Norman Rilling and the Dominican Miguel Mendez, rediscovered this stone on the beaches of Barahona, close to the alluvial of the river Bahoruco. This stone was analyzed by several geologists, as well as the Smithsonian Institute in the USA and they all agreed that this stone has a volcanic origin and belongs to the group of  pectolites with the exception that this is the only blue pectolite found in the whole world until now.

The mines are located in the mountains of Bahoruco in the province of Barahona, southwest of this second largest Caribbean island. Most mining is open pit, with miners using only pick, shovel and hammer to break the weathered basalt in search of this Larimar stone. Efforts have been made by the Dominican Government to modernize the mining system. So far the available quantity in the mines is unknown, which makes the supply of this fascinating Larimar stone uncertain in the long run.

This semi-precious stone was named after Mendez’s daughter “Larissa” (abbreviation) and the Spanish word for sea “Mar”. Like the Caribbean Sea, Larimar gemstone reflects the different blue colors, from deep to light shades and jade green, often sparkled with the white and grey clouds color, peppered now and then with dendrites.

 

Larimar has also been named ”Atlantis Stone” by several new age philosophies, who believe that the island (Dominican Republic) was part of the lost continent of Atlantis associating it to the healing stones, including several other properties.

Larimar is in high demand and exported to several countries all around the world where it is mainly used for jewelry, among theme Larimar rings, bracelets, pendants, earrings and Larimar Necklaces. The settings of the Larimar jewelry will tell you where it was made!! Dominican artisan use very simple 925 silver settings whereas the artisan from India, Indonesia and other Asian countries have a more elaborated silver settings giving it a ancient look. 

Prices of Larimar Stone, as well as, Larimar jewelry will depend on the stone quality and craftsmanship. The deeper blue colors are more expensive than the lighter blue colors, but what makes this stone so unique is it marvelous variety of blue, blue green colors and patterns, making of each jewel something special!

If you'll love to indulge yourself with the best Larimar Jewelry on the web then you should visit our website www.thelarimarshop.com where you will find Larimar Bracelets, Larimar Pendants and Larimar Earrings just to name a few of the top quality jewelry we have in there.