
June13
June Blog
June’s birthstone is pearl, representing purity and devotion and a firm favourite of the Royals from Elizabeth I to Elizabeth II. In Elizabeth I’s day, the only pearls available were natural, found growing in oysters on the sea bed. Nowadays, most pearls are farmed or ‘cultured’ to keep up with industry demand. The bulk of pearls are freshwater cultured, which means they are farmed in freshwater rivers, in mussel shells. It is intensive farming with each mussel having a small grain inserted with tweezers, usually with a spot of antiseptic. The mussel naturally grows nacre around the grain to protect...