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There are two birthstones for June - Pearl and Moonstone.
We have two great choices for June birthstones and although they share a luminous and lustrous appearance they have very different origins, spiritual powers and prices.
Pearls are an organic gemstone and, if completely natural, extremely rare and amongst the most revered and valued of all gemstones - some items of pearl jewelry have sold for millions of dollars - with a history stretching back to the dawn of civilization.
Moonstones have more plain beginnings as a simple mineral but their crystal structure help to produce a gemstone that seems to glow from within. They have a formidable back story like pearls but have a much more reasonable price tag.
Pearls are most famously white or cream colored but can also naturally appear in black, gray and silver hues.
The color of a natural pearl is caused by the type of mollusk that formed the pearl, the minerals and elements in the water it lived in, the thickness of the nacre, even what food the oyster or abalone or mussel lived on.
Pearls can be dyed to create all colors of the rainbow - green, blue, gold, pink are very popular. As long as you know you are buying dyed pearls this is no problem but be wary of any 'totally natural' colored pearls being offered for sale at price that seems too good to be true.
Moonstones come in white, gray, pink, yellow, orange, brown and red colors as well as some very special examples with a gleaming transparent body or a clear stone with a blue color that seems to radiate from within - known as Rainbow Moonstone.
Natural pearls are very rare and highly prized so you can expect to pay a considerable sum for a string of pearls for a necklace or a pair for some earrings - anything from $300 to $1500 per pearl.
Cultured pearls are real pearls - both are formed inside the shell of a living mollusk - but are created with the help of humans. They can share the same qualities of natural pearls in color, luster, shape and size without the extreme prices - as a very loose guide $30 - $300 per pearl.
Whether they are all-natural or cultured there are similar factors to consider when evaluating a pearl:
Unlike most gemstones, it is not the color that gives a moonstone its value, it is the shimmer or gleam on the gemstone's surface - technically known as 'adularescence' - that contributes most to the price.
Assuming the Moonstone possesses this 'glow', we can then consider the color, with an intense blue that seems to hover over the surface like an aura the most valued. This is followed by clear white gemstones with a moon-like glow.
The orange, yellow, brown and red colors normally found in Moonstones are a personal choice and do not vary dramatically in price.
There are also Cat's Eye Moonstones and Star Moonstones which are quite rare and sought after gems.
For more details please refer to our full Moonstone Info page here
Pearls are most famously a symbol of purity, loyalty and honesty but have a few more virtues:
Moonstones contain the feminine energies of the moon such as nurture and unconditional love. Other attributes include:
See our detailed article on Gemstone meanings and uses
The Chakras are usually linked to gemstones through their color but as a traditionally white or cream gemstone, Pearls have been associated with the Third Eye Chakra - the centre of intuition, conscience and wisdom.
Moonstones come in a variety of colors and are a blend of several different minerals and a few chemical impurities so assigning a single Chakra is a bit difficult. Customarily, Moonstones are connected to the Third Eye and Crown Chakras and even the Soul Star Chakra dealing with clairvoyance and telepathy.
Find more details on Chakra gemstones here
Pearls are one of the few gemstones known as 'organic' as they have biological origins rather than a crystalline structure. Other members of this limited family include:
In the simplest terms a pearl is created inside a mollusk or shell fish such as a oyster, mussel or abalone. A small irritant such as a grain of sand or a piece of broken shell gets inside the shell and the mollusk secretes layers of nacre in thin overlapping plates.
Nacre is also known as 'Mother-of-Pearl' and is tough, resilient and iridescent which together create the classic pearl.
Natural pearls form by accident in the ocean or fresh water and are dived for by specialists in dangerous conditions while cultured pearls are formed by inserting an artificial irritant into the mollusk. The mollusks are kept in farms so no diving or searching is needed.
Moonstones are a type of feldspar mineral which is a mixture of silica and aluminum and makes up half the world's crust. Moonstone is a trade name for any orthoclase feldspar which displays the gleam and shimmer known as adularescence.
Confusingly, Rainbow Moonstone is a type of labradorite although it is still part of the feldspar group of minerals.
Pearls are often bleached to lighten and enhance their color. In this way, a uniform color can be achieved for beaded necklaces. Pearls can also be irradiated to darken their color or dyed to create bright colored pearls.
As an organic gemstone you should expect some variations and blemishes in pearls and a perfectly matched string of pearls would suggest some sort of treatment has taken place.
As long as the treatments are fully disclosed these processes are usually acceptable.
Other than the usual cutting and polishing to create these charming gemstones, Moonstones are not enhanced or treated in any way as far as we know.
Pearls are one of our oldest known gemstones with the earliest recorded reference to them dating back 7,500 years to a grave in present day UAE. Just about everywhere that pearls could be found in oceans and rivers across the globe was plundered by man for centuries.
When, finally, the natural world had been almost fully harvested, the cultured pearl was introduced in the late 19th century and has flourished since.
The largest recorded pearl was found in 1934 in the Philippines, known as the "Pearl of Lao Tzu" which came from a giant clam and weighs 6.4 kilograms.
A large natural pearl of over 50 carats, known as "La Peregrina" sold for nearly $12 million in 2011 and the Maharajah of Baroda's necklace, "The Baroda Pearls", a double strand of 68 natural pearls sold for $7 million in 2007.
The ancient world of Rome, Greece and Egypt all shared the belief that moonstones were formed by moonbeams while early Hindu texts claim they came into existence after a battle between Lord Vishnu and the demon god, Bali.
The gorgeous moonstones discovered in the area around Mt Adularia in Switzerland led to the term 'Adularescence' for their pearly or iridescent appearance.
Now that the ancient pearl sources of the Persian Gulf, the coasts of India and Sri Lanka, the waters of the Caribbean and the Mississippi River have pretty much dried up, the vast majority of pearls are cultured and come from China, Japan, Australia and the South Pacific Islands.
Moonstones can still be found in the traditional sources, Sri Lanka and neighboring India, which is also a major supplier of Rainbow Moonstone. Moonstone is also mined in Australia, Brazil, Myanmar, Madagascar, Mexico, parts of Europe and the United States.
Pearls are classically used for necklaces of various lengths from long opera and matinee strings to short chokers and for beautiful matching earrings.
Single pearl pendants are becoming very popular for both men and women and they also make attractive hair and dress decorations for very special occasions.
Pearls are relatively soft for gemstones at 2.5 - 4.5 on Mohs hardness scale but they are quite compact so more durable than their rating might suggest. Rings and bracelets with pearls should be occasional wear items.
In addition to being the June birthstone, Pearls are also the traditional gemstone to celebrate the 3rd and 30th wedding anniversaries.
Moonstones are rated at 6 - 6.5 on Mohs hardness scale so they are hard enough for most types of jewelry but a bit of care should be taken with items such as rings or bracelets which are exposed to more knocks and bumps than earrings or pendants.
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