June birthstone

When it comes to June people, the options to select a birthstone are as numerous as for no other months. Just imagine: there are three special jewels! You can even get the triple power - wear earrings with pearls, a necklace with a moonstone pendant, and a round-shaped alexandrite ring. Or choose your special jewel with the help of our guide!

Cultured pearl and freshwater pearl: Which one is better?

In the world of gemstones, pearl is a very special case. It’s the only jewel that requires a living creature to emerge.

To form a pearl, God needed two things: a tissue and a mussel (or an oyster). For a freshwater pearl to appear, a freshwater mollusk secretes nacre around the piece of sand. Alternatively, it can use a shell dwelled by a parasite. In the case of saltwater pearls, the same process takes place in the sea or the ocean.

Throughout the years, humanity worshiped pearls.

This idolization led to the increased demand and the dramatic shortage of natural gemstones nowadays. So, the appearance of cultured methods for pearl formation was investable. While making a cultured pearl, the process becomes totally artificial. Humans implant a piece of mantle tissue into a host mollusk – and get a freshwater pearl. For saltwater type, the procedure also involves a mother-of-pearl shell bead.

This shift towards the cultured method has enabled pearl farms that guarantee accurate cleaning, protection from invaders, and increased harvests. Making cultured pearls turned into the saving plan for the gemstone industry today – due to the dramatically shortened amount of natural pearls.

Here is the most interesting information about pearls we’ve found:

Fishing pearls started near 3000 BCE in the Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar (the place between India and Sri Lanka). Later on, Spanish conquistadors revealed many pearls near Mexico, Central America, and Venezuela.

In Persia, people thought that a pearl is a tear of God, while in ancient China, it was called a child of the Moon. In myths, pearls appeared as the teardrops of Moon that fell into the sea.

Pearls symbolize innocence, humbleness, wisdom, charity, and virginity. These simple and pure precious stones are the great wedding gift for brides born in June. According to Greek mythology, receiving pearl jewelry will prevent them from crying and grant happiness in their future married life.

The jewels were widely used in medicine to treat the cases of upset stomach and blood strokes. In the 19th century, the powder from pearls was used to improve eyesight, quite nerves, and facilitate a depressive state. These days, cosmetics brands still use pearls to rejuvenate skin.

The saltwater pearls are the exemplary jewels with a creamy white color and ideally delicate round shape. That`s why pearls generally turned into one of the most valued gemstones.

The most popular reference of pearl in art is the well-known picture of Johannes Vermeer titled Girl with a Pearl Earring.

The most famous pearl, La Peregrina, has over 50-carat weight. That’s the gift from Richard Burton to Elizabeth Taylor, lately estimated within a necklace during Christie’s New York auction in $11.8 million.

When it comes to getting pearls, the industry has established certain rules. Freshwater pearls are rare and placed in China mostly. Centuries of fishing devastated the natural pearl beds, so people have turned to cultured pearl implantation. These days, pearl birthstone is available in a wide variety of colors, shapes, and sizes. Saltwater cultivated pearl farms appear in the waters of Japan, China, Australia, Indonesia, Philippines, The Gambier Islands, and Tuamotu Archipelago. So now, anybody can satisfy willingness to have marvelous jewelry featuring either a freshwater pearl (if you want something rare and truly worthy) or a cultured pearl (if you simply fancy pearls and want to get earrings with your June birthstone).

The story about moonstone: The special gemstone with mysterious sparkling

Moonstone, having adularia as the basic mineral behind, is another birthstone option for people born in June. The special light that occurs around this stone contributed to titling it like this. The perfect halo is the one that totally resembles moonshine floating on a restless water: blue on a completely colorless background.

Here are some curious facts about this jewel:

Its chemical structure involves sodium, potassium, aluminum, and silicate.

The title ‘moonstone’ came from the Roman historian Pilny who saw in its glistering the reflection of moon phases.

Moonstone can have different tones, ranging from gray and white to green and pink. A “cat-eye” effect is also highly appraised. However, the top gemstone will appear a colorless.

The common associations with moonstone are romance, ardor, and fruitfulness. So, that’s a great wedding anniversary gift.

The first mining place of moonstone was Mt. Adular, Switzerland. It gave the gemstone its second title adularia and the name of its basic trait, adularescence. If you want to find it today, head to Australia, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, and the United States – in New Mexico, North Carolina, and Virginia especially. India also has special moonstones: they are of brown, orange, and green color.

Alexandrite, the third official June birthstone

If you don’t like pearl and moonstone, maybe you’ll fancy alexandrite. This rare chrysoberyl has an exceptional ability to change color under different lighting circumstances. Another interesting color effect of alexandrite is a cat-eye, formed by inclusions of elongated thin shapes. Due to its extraordinary abilities, it’s even called sometimes “Emerald by day, Ruby by night,” or three birthstones in one.

Here are some other interesting facts about this exceptional gemstone:

It was titled after Russian Prince Alexander II because its color (red and green) resembled the colors of the Imperial Russia army.

The most valuable alexandrite is the one that dramatically changes its tone from bluish-green in daylight to purplish-red in incandescent light.

People believe that alexandrite can strengthen intuition, creative thinking, and imagination.

The most popular place to mine alexandrite is Russia’s Ural Mountains, where it first found in 1830. Also, there are some deposits of this gemstone in Sri Lanka, Brazil, and East Africa.

Here are 4 groups of pearls:

South Sea

These white pearls originate from Australia, Philippines, French Polynesia, and Indonesia

All of them are grown in large shells of oysters – Pinctada maxima

Akoya

Cultivated in Japan in 1893, these June gemstones have an exceptional round shape
Such pearls appear as a pair in one oyster titled Pinctada fucata martensii

Tahitian

These black pearls are very similar to South Sea ones with one exception: the oyster they need is Pinctada margaritifera

They mostly appear in Tahiti, French Polynesia

Freshwater

Farmed in China, these pearls grow in a mussel titled Margaritifera or Hyriopsis cumingii

Freshwater pearls are cheaper due to their smaller shape

In their turn, moonstones vary in color:

Blue moonstone. It has the most desirable intense blue tone.
Rainbow moonstone. It has a milky hue due to the presence of inclusions made of white orthoclase.
Green moonstone. This type is not that demanded but still beautiful.
Pink moonstone. Its range changes from honey to peach.

Tips to take care of your jewelry

Here are some basic rules to look after your precious jewelry:

The contemporary abilities to fish cultured pearls allow experimenting with different designs and styles – from classic white necklaces to contemporary brown-pearled earrings.
According to the Mohs scale, pearls have an extremely low hardness (around 2.5-3). And so, they need extreme care – cultured ones especially. Among all, don’t store pearls with other jewels, metal jewelry, or in a plastic bag. Moonstones are a bit harder than pearls, with 6-6.5 Mohs of durability. Because of that, they can scratch pearls – but can be damaged by themselves under high heat, though. Also, beware of cracking and cleaving your moonstone. When it comes to moonstone jewelry, it’s better to choose a necklace or earrings.
Pearls are so sensitive that any chemicals can destroy them. This means that you should even put your perfume before wearing pearl earrings and necklace. To clean them, apply soft and dry cloth. It’s recommended to do this every day. In the case of moonstone, it’s allowed to use a soft brush – but not ultrasonic cleaners.
Alexandrite is a special pick. It has the highest hardness (8.5 Mohs), so it’s difficult to break it. Even ultrasonic and steam cleaners can do no harm to them!

If you need expert advice on how to pick and save your precious stones for decades, feel free to refer to Diamond Registry! Our consultants and jewelers are eager to help you get the best deal for the best price.

Get price alerts

Read about other birthstones