June
Birthstone : Pearl
Birthstone Color: White
From one of the humblest of life forms, the mollusk,
comes the pearl -- a gem of unsurpassed beauty and
elegance. Ancient civilizations had many stories
to explain the origin of June's birthstone, such as
the Greek belief that pearls were the hardened tears
of joy that the goddess of love shook from her eyes
as she was born from the sea. According to Arab
legend, pearls were formed when oysters were lured
from the depths of the ocean by the beautiful moon
and then swallowed moonlit dewdrops. And the
Ancient Chinese thought that these gems originated
from the brains of dragons.
The
scientific explanation for natural pearls is almost
as mystifying as folklore. When an irritant,
such as a small parasite or a fish lodges in the flesh
of an oyster, mussel, or clam, a protective substance
called "nacre" is produced. Over years, layer
upon layer of shimmering nacre coats the intruder,
creating a lustrous pearl. Natural pearls are
relatively rare, so a process evolved in which a piece
of shell or bead was placed inside a mollusk to stimulate
the production of nacre. This results in a cultured
pearl, which accounts for about 90 per cent of the
pearl industry.
Divers
find natural pearls in The Persian Gulf as well as
in the waters off Japan, the South Pacific Islands
off northern Australia, and the coasts of Panama,
Venezuela, and California. Most of the cultured
pearl industry is in Japanese and Australian coastal
waters. These gems come in a variety of colors,
from pure white to pink, yellow, gray and black.
They also come in different shapes and sizes.
Pearls
have been a passion and even an obsession of people
throughout the ages. They have been ground up
and used in cosmetics and as a medicine to treat heart
and stomach conditions. Some cultures swear
by pearls as an aphrodisiac. These gems
have adorned crowns, clothing, and temples, and were
said to be a favorite of Cleopatra.
Only
those with royal status once wore pearl jewelry, but
eventually these gems were seen among all classes
of people. They continue to be viewed as a mark
of taste and refinement as well as a symbol of purity,
and they are often given to celebrate a marriage or
the birth of a child. Pearls are nature's perfect
gift, suitable for all ages, and elegantly worn with
everything from jeans to an evening gown.
Alternate
Birthstones
June has two alternate birthstones. The first
is Moonstone, a type of feldspar named because of
its uncanny resemblance to the iridescent sheen of
the moon. Varying in color from clear to blue-white
or peach, it was considered by ancient civilizations
to be a sacred stone, bestowing the wearer with great
spiritual understanding. Some believed that
the Moonstone could even make a person invisible!
Mined in Sri Lanka, Brazil, India, Madagascar, and
the United States, a gift of this stone is symbolic
of health and longevity.
The
second alternate birthstone for June is the Alexandrite.
A yellowish or brownish green in color, this gemstone
has the unique characteristic of changing color to
a red hue when exposed to a glowing light source,
such as candlelight. Because of this quality,
it has been characterized by poets as "an emerald
by day, a ruby by night." Alexandrite was first discovered
in Urals in 1830 but is mined today primarily in Sri
Lanka, Zimbabwe, Brazil, Burma, Madagascar and Tanzania.
It is a rare and expensive gemstone, symbolic of joy
and good fortune.
.gif){kind=tracking}
