Warm waters… clear skies… dramatic scenery – it sounds like a dream beach vacation, don’t you think? It’s also an accurate description of where you’ll find pearls. While you’ll likely need to go to remote destinations to find the June birthstone, our ancestors believed otherwise. (more…)
Before the development of cultured pearls, only natural pearls were available – and their value was astronomical.
“I’m going to have the most expensive dinner in history,” Cleopatra supposedly boasted to Marc Anthony. She then dissolved a large natural pearl in a goblet of wine and drank it. Then there was the Roman general, Vitellius (15 A.D.-69 A.D.), who sold a natural pearl from one of his mother’s earrings to cover the expenses of a military campaign. (more…)
Use of this site signifies your agreement to its terms of use.
© 2002 – 2025 Gemological Institute of America Inc. GIA is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization.
All rights reserved.