Larimar is a rare blue variety of the mineral Pectolite. Pectolite is a common mineral found throughout the world, unlike the striking sea-blue Larimar variety which literally comes from just one location in the world: It is only found in a limited deposit in the Dominican Republic. With its desirable color, fair durablity (5 on the Moh’s hardness scale) and silky to subvitreous luster, it is popular in the gem/jewelry trade – in fact, it is the only gemstone found in the entire Caribbean. Its blue color is caused by copper inclusions and that color is rarely a single uninterrupted hue, but rather, it is criss-crossed with intersecting and circular patterned white lines.

The crystal system for Larimar is triclinic. Though the predominant form is massive, rare and radiating patterns of crystals can occasionally be observed within the solid mass.

As mentioned earlier, this aesthetic mineral is only found in the Dominican Republic.