June Birthstone Beads

June birthstone beads: freshwater pearls in white, peach and peacock and moonstone in white, rainbow, grey and peach, 2 of the 3 modern stones of the sixth month. Alexandrite, the third, is too costly to cut into beads, so June here means pearl and moonstone, and both share a soft glow, the luster of nacre on a cultured pearl and the floating sheen of moonstone. Pearls come as potato, rice, baroque and round strands; moonstone in smooth, faceted and microfaceted rounds and rondelles from 2mm to 10mm. Both are soft stones, 6 to 6.5 on the Mohs scale for moonstone and softer still for pearl, so they suit necklaces and earrings best. In metaphysical belief pearl is associated with purity and moonstone with intuition and new beginnings. The full ranges are on the pearl and moonstone pages.