June Birthstone: Let's talk about pearls... conch pearls

The delicately pink, red, brown-tint and white colour of the rare conch pearl, with its so-called 'flames' across the surface, sparked the imagination of jewellery designers throughout the 20th century - something which continues to this day Many masterpieces have been created using conch pearls over the last 150 years the selection I have put together includes pieces realised over the last 20 years Personally, I am a huge fan of conch pearls, and I don't want to rush into showing you the conch pearl gallery right away.

The first mention of the conch pearl can be found in the diaries of Christopher Columbus, but its use as a jewellery material became popular in the early 20th century One could consider the first conch pearl collector to have been Mr Henry Philip Hope, a famous London banker whose owned many truly unique gems.

"Since the 1840s, famous jewellery maisons like Tiffany&Co and Cartier have created magnificent jewels with rare natural pink pearls From the Art Nouveau period until the First World War, there was a variety of designs available," explains Luciano Policicchio, conch pearl expert and Director of the Geneva-based company Shanghai Gems SA.

specialising in the trade of this mineral Nowadays, conch pearls are in high demand only within the narrow circles of connoisseurs and collectors, because jewellery that incorporates them is not available to everyone. . Source