Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
Charles (Charlie) Alan Mark, affectionately known as the Larimar King, passed away peacefully in his sleep on August 13, 2020 at age 71. His friend Helen Serras-Herman shares her thoughts…
Charlie was an entrepreneur who, because of his passion for adventure, later entered the gem and mineral business. He traveled the world, but one place in particular drew him in for life‒the Dominican Republic.
After visiting the larimar mines in 1982 in Bahoruco, about 106 miles southwest of Santo Domingo, Charlie became a member and international representative of the local Larimar Mines Cooperative, advocating for miners’ rights, and helping them promote the blue stone.
In 1985, he established his own company, Mountain-Mark Trading in Florida. Charlie was one of the first larimar wholesale buyers, and continued to be a major buyer until now. As a lapidary for 30 years, he also helped build equipment and teach the miners how to cut and polish the gems. He was involved with every step of production, from mining and cutting to education and the marketing of larimar around the world.
Charlie Mark exhibited at the annual Tucson gem and mineral shows starting in 1980, and later at the Denver shows, as well as in Tokyo, Japan and Munich, and Germany since 1994, where he received eight awards for his Larimar-Blue Pectolite scientific exhibits. He promoted larimar as The Gemstone of the Caribbean® and The Jewel of the Caribbean®, and also supplied specimens and information to Drs. Robert E. Woodruff and Emmanuel Fritsch for their in-depth article “Blue Pectolite from the Dominican Republic” (Gems & Gemology, Winter 1989) as well as to me for my various articles, for which I am very thankful.
He pioneered and hosted the Nature Science Show and The Larimar Show from 1996 to 2001, in the early days of the Gem Shopping Network TV station, educating viewers about this unique gemstone.
Among our conversations, Charlie related his meeting in 2013 in Santo Domingo with his attorney, Carlos Cornielle, and Jose Gomez (VP of the Larimar Miners Co-operative), Saulo Feliz (mine manager), along with the President of the Dominican Republic, Danilo Medina. This meeting resulted in new laws, which were a great win for the miners, who endured fatal accidents in the harsh and primitive conditions over the four decades of mining. There are now continuous efforts to improve the working conditions of the mines and the safety of the miners, including a new 400-yard-long tunnel constructed in 2015 to allow trucks to be brought in.
Another benefit from that meeting was the establishment by the government of a Jewelry & Lapidary School in Bahoruco, where locals can learn how to cut larimar and create jewelry.
Charlie, his wife Pat and the family moved from Florida to Colorado in 2011, first to Castle Rock, and then to a 90-acre ranch near Elizabeth, which included his office and lapidary shop. He loved the many deer that shared the area, as he did all animals and was often an advocate for their defense.
Charlie was loved by everyone in the trade, demonstrated by the countless heartfelt comments left on his Facebook page after his passing. His integrity, fairness, kindness and willingness to share his knowledge as well as helping miners and lapidaries, should be the benchmark for any gem dealer. The Larimar King will be dearly missed by all of us.
