Larimar Oval Cabochons, AA-Grade

This oval larimar cabochon has an attractive natural sea-blue color and polished finish that makes it an eye-catching option for jewelry of all design styles. Use it on its own or pair it with other pastel gemstones, such as rose quartz or chalcedony. Falling roughly mid-range on the hardness scale, larimar can endure wear, but is best suited to pendants and earrings rather than bracelets; the milky blue color looks great bezel set or wire-wrapped with white metal or lower-karat gold. A rare variety of pectolite found only in the Caribbean, larimar is found in colors that range from pale-to-medium turquoise blue-to-greenish-blue and features milky white veining. The amount and thickness of the veining varies widely from gemstone to gemstone. Pectolite is a hydrous sodium calcium silicate; in larimar, the calcium is replaced by copper, which gives the gem its distinctive blue color.