June birthstone: Pearl (opens in a new tab)
Nothing is more universal and timeless than pearls. Wander through any major art museum and you’ll find them on everyone from maharajahs to lowly servants. There’s Rembrandt’s “Weighing of Pearls,” Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring”—which inspired a Hollywood movie—and nary a portrait of Queen Elizabeth where she isn’t dripping with them. Leonardo da Vinci even had his own recipe for making a small pearl into a large fake, according to Promethean Ambitions: Alchemy and the Quest to Perfect…
Read the full story at The Jewelry Loupe (opens in a new tab)