Cultured Pearls

June Birthstone

 

Pearls were so cherished by man that as the sources of natural Pearls became exhausted, he learned to cultivate them by implanting an irritant into an oyster. Today, cultured Pearls are grown and harvested in many parts of the world including the fresh waters of the Tennessee River. The majority of cultured Pearls come from Japan, China and the South Pacific. Cultured Pearls come in many beautiful colors, from palest creme and white to rose, lilac, green, gold, gray, and the dramatic Tahitian black. Cultured Pearls come in many shapes and sizes, and can be acquired in both graduated and uniform strands. They can be purchased singly or in pairs for rings, pendants and earrings. June birthdays and third and thirtieth anniversaries are celebrated with the gift of Pearls.

Lore
No one will ever know who were the earliest people to collect and wear pearls. However, Since ancient times, the pearl has been a symbol of unblemished perfection. It is the oldest known gem, and for centuries it was considered the most valuable. A fragment of the oldest known pearl jewelry, found in the sarcophagus of a Persian princess who died in 520 BC, is displayed in the Louvre in Paris. To the ancients, pearls were a symbol of the moon and had magical powers. In classical Rome, only persons above a certain rank were allowed to wear pearl jewelry. The Latin word for pearl literally means "unique", attesting to the fact that no two pearls are identical.Old Arabian legend says that I was formed when dewdrops filled with moonlight fell into the ocean and were swallowed by oysters.