June Birthstone Guide

The month of June, along with August and December, offers three attractive gemstones to claim for your birthstone. Each gemstone has its own distinctive qualities along with diverse colors and price points. These three gemstones are pearl, moonstone, and alexandrite.

Pearl

There’s nothing more timeless than a pearl. Pearls have been used as embellishments since the earliest recorded findings of exhumation and history texts pertained to knowledge. As the world’s oldest gemstone, the eldest pearl exhumed to date can be traced as far back as 420 as a pearl fragment was found in the sarcophagus of a Persian princess. 

Pearls are organically occurring gemstones that form when an irritant such as a sand particle or a parasite invades the shell of an oyster or a mussel. When the irritant is in place, the mollusk secretes a substance called nacre around the irritant which then creates a pearl. Natural pearls occur in the wild in pristine freshwater and saltwater conditions. Cultured pearls are influenced by the human hand when a pearl technician implants particles that vary in size and material into the mollusk at a pearl farm causing the mollusk to initiate the nacre secretion- which then forms a pearl. Pearls range in all colors and sizes.

Origin Story:

This June birthstone originates from oceans, lakes, and rivers from all around the world far off from civilization in the purest and primitive settings. Most pearl farms are located in Japan and China. South Sea pearls are farmed from north Australia to Indonesia to Southeast Asia and the Philippines. Tahitian pearls are from the area of French Polynesia.

Natural pearls are not round, they have a unique shape and size meaning no two are the same. Fun Fact: Tennessee pearls are the official state gemstone of Tennessee! Naturally, wild-harvested TN freshwater pearls were attainable until the 1970s.

Mythological History:

The pearl was thought to have healing properties bestowing long life. Ancients of the Middle East thought that pearls were teardrops that had fallen from heaven .ls came from the brains of dragons.

Moonstone

Moonstone is known for its remarkable adularescence. Adularescence is the act of light billowing across a gemstone creating a special glow. Fire moonstones have a blue sheen when held against a colorless background. 

Origin Story:

Moonstone is found widespread- in North Carolina, Virginia, New Mexico, Brazil, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Madagascar, India, and Tanzania. 

Mythological History:

The moonstone is a mysterious gemstone, giving off the light of a moonlit night, that has been used by the Romans for years in honor of the Moon Goddess Diana. The Romans believed that you could see Diana within the stone and that wearing a moonstone brings wealth, good luck, love, and success. Hindu mythology says that moonstones are solidified moonbeams. Moonstone is also known as the traveler’s stone.

Alexandrite

Alexandrite is a chrysoberyl gemstone with a mystical magic trick in which it changes color when held under different light. Another fantastic feature of alexandrite is that it can have chatoyancy where the stone can create a cat’s eye effect. This color-changing stone was named after Alexander II and its red and green colors reflect imperial Russia’s national military colors.

Origin Story:

Alexandrite is a scarce mineral that is highly sought after. The Ural Mountains held the most abundant alexandrite deposits that were first discovered in 1830. These Russian mountains have since been barren and new sources for alexandrite were found in Brazil, East Africa, and Sri Lanka.

Mythological History:

Being that alexandrite is believed to have been originally found in the 19th century, there is no ancient reference for historical facts and folklore. Although, some believe this stone is used to bring a balance between the spiritual and physical world.