June Birthstones: Moonstone and Pearl

The birthstones for June involve two gemstones: moonstone and pearl, symbolizing health, wealth and longevity. Moonstone belongs to mineral gemstones and is a feldspar mineral, which is produced in alluvial gravel or granite pegmatite veins. Pearl belongs to organic gemstones. Its main inorganic components are aragonite, calcite and other trace elements, and it also contains organic components such as conchiolin and various pigments, and is produced inside the shells of various aquatic organisms such as pearl oysters or conchs. Although there are great differences in composition and origin, they both possess a soft and charming appearance and luster.

Moonstone

Moonstone was first discovered in the St. Gotthard Mountain in Switzerland in the West. Due to people's reverence for the moon, moonstone was included in the list of sacred gemstones very early. Moonstone is also known as the "lover's stone" and is a symbol of friendship and love. The Romans loved moonstone. They believed that this stone absorbed the essence of the moon and would be full of powerful energy during the full moon. So as early as more than 2,000 years ago, the ancient Romans used moonstone to make jewelry. In India, moonstone could only be worn on sacred occasions. In North America, the Indians placed moonstone as burial objects in coffins to let it guard the souls of the deceased. Moonstone is a gem mineral formed by the layered interaction of two mineral components, orthoclase (KAISi₃O₈) and albite (NaAISi₃O₈). It is usually colorless to white, and also has colors like reddish-brown, green, dark brown, and common iridescence in blue, colorless or yellow. It is transparent or translucent, with a vitreous luster on the polished surface; the fracture shows a vitreous to pearly luster or greasy luster. Moonstone is anisotropic, belongs to the biaxial crystal system, and has positive or negative optical properties. The density of moonstone is about 2.58 g/cm³, the refractive index is 1.518 - 1.526, and the Mohs hardness is 6. Materials similar to moonstone include crystal, colorless beryl, chalcedony, synthetic spinel, glass and plastic. Feldspar has centipede-like inclusions inside, and through this feature, it can be distinguished from crystal and beryl. The refractive index and density of beryl are slightly higher than those of moonstone. When moonstone is rotated under a crossed polarizer, it has an extinction phenomenon of four bright and four dark areas, while jade shows a fully bright phenomenon when rotated under a crossed polarizer. The refractive index and density of synthetic spinel are both greater than those of moonstone, and it can be distinguished accordingly. Glass and plastic have bubbles or stirring structures inside, and they can be distinguished from moonstone after magnified observation. Sri Lanka is an important producing area of moonstone. In addition, moonstone is also produced in India, and the moonstone produced there has colors such as white, reddish-brown, blue and green. Other producing areas include Madagascar, Myanmar, Tanzania, the United States and other places. In China, the producing areas of moonstone include Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Anhui, Sichuan, Yunnan and other places. Moonstone belongs to common gemstone varieties with abundant resources, so it has always been among the medium and low-grade gemstones. In recent years, due to the general price increase of other gemstone varieties and the gradual exhaustion of some gemstone resources, the price advantage and the relatively sufficient resource advantage of moonstone have brought it a relatively large market prospect. At present, the price of moonstone is not high, and most consumers have the purchasing power. Moreover, the special optical effect of moonstone gives it a unique decorative effect, and high-grade moonstone has also been put on the market. Coupled with diversified designs, it has a good development space. There is no doubt that as one of the birthstones for June, moonstone has a certain symbolic meaning and has a very broad market in today's society where functional gemstones such as birthstones are popular.

Pearl

The word "pearl" originated from the Latin word "Pernnula", meaning "the pride of the sea". Pearls are naturally formed and do not need to be polished. They can be worn just by drilling holes or setting them. This characteristic made them be loved by people from the very beginning of their discovery. In the West, the earliest records about pearls can be traced back to the ancient Greek period. At that time, there was no artificial breeding technology, and all pearls came from nature. At that time, this noble organic gemstone was mainly used by royalty and nobles. They were made into various jewelry such as hairpins, earrings, necklaces, etc. Some were sewn on clothes and shoes, and some were inlaid on the murals of buildings. In China, according to the record in "Shangshu · Yugong", freshwater pearls, namely "Huaiyi Binzhu", were produced in the Huaihe River Basin as early as the Xia Yu period more than 4,000 years ago. And after that, there were also records about pearls in ancient books such as "The Book of Songs", "The Classic of Mountains and Seas", "The Book of Changes", etc. In China, pearls are not only used as decorations but also recorded as precious medicinal materials in ancient medical books such as "Another Record of Famous Physicians", "Kaibao Materia Medica", "Compendium of Materia Medica", "Lei Gong's Treatise on the Nature of Medicinal Herbs". The results of research by Chinese doctors in past dynasties show that pearls have the effects of calming the nerves, relieving convulsions, improving eyesight, removing nebula, detoxifying, promoting tissue regeneration, delaying aging, removing spots and whitening the skin, etc. The medicinal value has added a lot of luster to pearls as one of the birthstones for June. The body color of pearls can be divided into five series according to color: white, red, yellow, black and other color systems. Besides the body color, pearls may have accompanying colors such as white, pink, rose, silver-white or green. Pearls have different levels of iridescence, with a pearly luster on the surface, being translucent to opaque, and the refractive index is 1.530 - 1.685. The Mohs hardness of pearls is 2.5 - 4.5, and the density is generally between 2.60 - 2.85 g/cm³. Pearls are divided into natural pearls and cultured pearls. Currently, the main ones circulated in the market are cultured pearls. Cultured pearls are further divided into seawater cultured pearls and freshwater cultured pearls according to the growth waters. The golden pearls and black pearls appearing on the market are generally seawater pearls, and white pearls include both seawater pearls and freshwater pearls. The surface luster of seawater pearls is generally brighter, while that of freshwater pearls is slightly inferior. The shapes of pearls include round, nearly round, oval, flat, irregular, etc. Among the same kind of pearls, the perfectly round ones are the best. Like other gemstones, the size of pearls also has a certain impact on their value. If they are both round beads, the larger the diameter of the pearl, the greater its value. Natural pearls are mainly produced in the Persian Gulf region. In addition, there are also small amounts of production in Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United States, India and Sri Lanka and other places. Cultured pearls are mainly produced in China and Japan. In addition, Tahiti, Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Myanmar also produce cultured pearls. The Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Shanghai region, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hunan and Hubei in China mainly produce freshwater pearls, while Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan mainly produce seawater pearls, and the seawater pearls produced here are also called "Nanzhu". The main producing areas of seawater cultured pearls in Japan are Mie, Kochi, Ehime and other places, and there are also freshwater cultured pearls produced in Lake Biwa and Lake Kasumigaura in the central part of the Japanese archipelago. The seawater pearls produced by the Japanese Pinctada fucata martensii are called "Akoya", with fine nacre on the surface and strong luster. Although their price is relatively high, they are still sought after by many people. At present, this kind of pearl is also produced in China, but due to the immature technology and less ideal waters, the quality of the obtained pearls is still not as good as that of the Akoya pearls produced in Japan. Pearl is the queen of gemstones. When worn by women, it can add a soft and charming temperament and is an excellent material for jewelry. Although moonstone is not precious among mineral gemstones, its attractive moon effect and ancient cultural connotations give it another kind of charm and it is also a good decorative choice. As the birthstones for June, these two gemstones have their own characteristics, and their current market prices are relatively low, making them excellent choices for daily-worn jewelry.