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Birthstones are gemstones which are representative of a birth month. These are typically given as gifts to represent a birthday based on Astrology and carry significant meaning for the month of birth.
At Volle, we get excited about the month of June. One of the birthstones of this month is one that’s close to our hearts, the beloved pearl. But there are actually two birthstones for the month of June: pearl and Alexandrite.
Pearls have been extremely popular for centuries because of their natural beauty and Alexandrite is rare and desirable because of its ability to change colour depending on the light.
Here are five fun facts about pearls:
1. Health and longevity from pearls
It is suggested that people embracing a pearl will benefit from health and longevity which is very apt considering how and why they’re created. The oysters create a pearl to deal with danger, covering any foreign object with layer upon layer of nacre in order to consume the threat. This results in the wonderful, natural pearl.
2. An ancient tradition
The harvesting of pearls has been around for over 4,000 years and they are the only gemstones collected from a living species. Usually oysters remain alive after extraction and can produce pearls sometimes even up to 3 times in their lifetime.
3. Each pearl is unique
No two pearls are ever the same, each has its own unique characteristics and every single one has imperfections of some kind.
4. Fifth Avenue shop bought with pearls
Legend has it that in 1916 one of the world’s most renowned jewelers, Cartier, paid for the plot of their Fifth Avenue store in New York with a pearl necklace.
5. Myths of the pearl’s creation
Until the 18th century people had different theories as to why and how pearls were created. For many years people thought they were created when the oyster rose to the top at dawn and collected dew drops in their shell. Then there were the people that thought pearls were oyster eggs. It wasn’t until the 18th century that people realised pearls are created when the mollusc tries to get rid of parasites.
If you would like to find out more or speak to someone about our collection of pearls, we have a jewellery store in Sydney’s CBD.
