June is a special month. It’s different from most of the other months because it actually gets two birthstones; one of which is extremely popular (but don’t get too jealous of June, because December somehow gets 3). Aside from the extra birthstone, one of June’s two birthstones is one of the most favored in the world.
The Stone of the Sea
The Pearl is created from the soft tissue of a shelled mollusk such as an Oyster. It’s also very easy to distinguish a real one from a fake one due to it’s iridescence. The inside is generally a cloudy white and these have a fairly consistent quality due to the way they’re produced.
Despite it’s ease to distinguish, it’s still worth a minute or two to look up a video that helps you spot fakes because Pearls are among the top when it comes to counterfeits. As a simple gemstone, they’re much more easily faked by smooth synthetics.
Emerald by day, Ruby by light
The second gemstone, Alexandrite is often described as “emerald by day, ruby by night” because it changes from green to red depending on the light source. It’s value is also so high that it sometimes spikes above diamonds and rubies in terms of price per carat, though very few wedding rings include this gemstone. It was named after Tsar Alexandar II of Russia and is often found around India & Sri Lanka.
While it made the list of birthstones, Alexandrite is actually a variety of the gemstone Chrysoberyl. Another common variety that’s often seen is “Cat’s Eye”, though that admits a yellowish-gold color.
Next month we’ll take a look at July’s birthstone: Rubies.