June babies' birthstones are as different from each other as the people born in June. Moonstone and Alexandrite, are natural minerals; pearls are organically formed.

If June is your birth month and want jewelry that traditionally represents your special month, choose among pearls, moonstone, or Alexandrite-- or all three!

The Lustrous Pearl

Pearls form when a grain of sand or other small irritant enters mollusks such as oysters, clams, or mussels. They react by coating the sand or tiny rock with the inside of their shells. Their shape and value depends on where they form. If it gets past the shell and into the organism's tissue, the result will be round or pear-shaped. If it forms within the surface of the shell, they form irregular shapes and have little worth.

They rarely form naturally, but they are more commonly createdor cultured in oyster farms. Japan is the source of most cultured pearls, and it takes years. "Farmers" insert tiny fragments of mussel or other shell into the flesh of two or three-year-old oysters. They're then fed and "pampered for seven to nine years before harvest.

White pearls are by far the most common, but black (often found in Tahiti), cream, blue, lavender, pink, and green also exist. The pearl's color depends upon the shellfish and environment in which it forms. Their values are also variable. Natural pearls, the rarest, are the most expensive. Cultured pearls, also formed in salt water, are less expensive, and freshwater pearls cost the least.

The pearl's hardness on the mineral scale is only 3 and excessive dryness, humidity, and acidity.

Moonstone with its Silvery Play of Color

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