Larimar: The Atlantis Stone
One piece in the shop is set with Larimar — a petite teardrop pendant on a sterling cable chain, hand-forged in sterling silver, made to order in Nashville. Below: what Larimar actually is, the one question worth asking before you buy any of it, and everything I set it in.
What larimar actually is
Larimar is a rare blue variety of pectolite, and it comes from exactly one place on Earth — a single volcanic deposit in the Bahoruco mountains of the Dominican Republic. The blue comes from copper substituting for calcium in the stone's structure, and no two stones carry quite the same wash of color — pale sky to deep volcanic blue, often veined white where the mineral didn't fully color through.
It was first noted by a Spanish priest in 1916 and then lost again for nearly sixty years, until a local man and a Peace Corps volunteer rediscovered it at the base of the mountains in 1974. The volunteer named it by combining his daughter's name, Larissa, with "mar" — Spanish for sea — and the name stuck. Because it comes from nowhere else, and because its blue so closely matches shallow Caribbean water, it's picked up a nickname that outgrew the mineralogy: some call it a piece of Atlantis.
The one question to ask about any Larimar
Scarcity breeds fakes, and Larimar gets them. Dyed blue howlite and dyed chalcedony both get passed off as Larimar, especially online and at a price that's too good for a stone that only comes from one mine.
Real Larimar almost never shows a perfectly even color — it reads in a mottled wash, often with white calcite running through it, because that's how the stone actually formed. A piece with suspiciously uniform, saturated blue and no white at all is the one to be skeptical of. Ask where it's from. If the answer isn't the Dominican Republic, it isn't Larimar.
Set in Larimar
One Piece…so far
How I set it, and why that matters for larimar
Larimar sits around 4.5 to 5 on the Mohs scale — soft, in the same range as turquoise, and just as easy to scratch or crack under a hard knock. So the stone sits in a bezel rather than prongs, with the silver wall taking the impact the stone can't. I set it after any oxidizing or heavy polishing is done, since the heat and chemicals involved in finishing silver can dull or shift the color in a soft, porous stone like this one.
None of that shows in a photograph. It's the difference between a piece you wear for years and one that chips the first time it's knocked against a counter.
Looking after it
Warm water, a barely damp cloth, dried right away. Larimar is soft and porous, so it wants less water and less time in it than most stones.
Keep it away from ultrasonic cleaners, steam, and the silver dips sold in supermarkets. Perfume, hairspray, sunscreen, and hand cream go on before the jewelry, not after. Off before the gym, the pool, and the shower. Keep it out of prolonged direct sun and real heat — color can fade or shift with it.
The silver is meant to stay bright on this one rather than oxidized — if it ever dulls more than you'd like, bring it back to me. Polishing is free, forever, for anything I've made.
Questions I get about larimar
Is Larimar really only from one place?
As far as anyone's found — yes. Every piece of genuine Larimar on Earth comes from one volcanic deposit in the Dominican Republic. That's part of why it's rarer, and pricier, than most blue stones you'll see.
Why is my Larimar more white than blue?
Larimar forms with white calcite running through it naturally — the amount of blue versus white varies stone to stone, and a paler piece isn't a lesser one, just a different one. Yours won't match the photograph exactly for the same reason no two turquoise pieces do.
Can you make something specific in larimar?
Yes — commissions start with a conversation, so just submit a commission request And if you’re buying for someone else and aren’t sure of their size, a gift card lets them tell me.
Calm isn't the absence of current. It's knowing how to move with one.
A petite Larimar teardrop — pale blue-green, soft as shallow water over sand — sits in a delicate scalloped sterling silver bezel and hangs from a thin sterling cable chain. Larimar only comes from one place on earth, and it shows: no two stones carry quite the same wash of color. This one's understated by design, small enough for every day, easy enough to layer.