#25 ~Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things About Pearls Pearl is the official birthstone for the month of June . Fresh water pearls are given on the 1st wedding anniversary. An organic gem, pearls are formed inside mollusks such as oysters and mussels. The process of building a solid pearl can take up to seven or eight years. Pearls vary in color from white to those with a hint of color, often pink, to brown or black. Pearls are quite "soft" and range between 2.5 and 4.5 on the Mohs scale of hardness. The Greeks believed that wearing pearls would promote marital bliss and prevent newlywed women from crying. 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. You can find freshwater pearls in the rivers and lakes of the United States. In the early 1900s, Muscatine, Iowa, became the “Pearl Button Capital of the World". For centuries, people have relied on “pearl powder” made from ground up shells and low-grade pearls to give their skin that pale, pearlescent glow. Learn more about pearls here.