Some people hide money under their mattresses. Others stow firearms in their nightstands. But not many people keep oversized pearls below their beds — at least not for an entire decade.
An unidentified fisherman handed over what may be the largest pearl in the world, the BBC and other news outlets are reporting.
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The pearl's owner reportedly found it in a giant clam in sea off the coast of Palawan Island, Philippines — and then kept the 75-pound piece as a "good luck charm" in his wooden home until a fire earlier this year forced him to move. He then handed the one-foot-wide by two-foot-long pearl to a local tourism officer in remote Puerto Princesca.
“We were amazed when he brought it to us. We now need help from gemologists to fully certify it,” Tourism Officer Aileen Cynthia Amurao said, according to the International Business Times. She added: “We will keep this here in the Philippines and I hope it will bring more tourists to the city."
Valued at around $100 million, the pearl is estimated to be worth $65 million more than the pearl currently listed in the books as the record holder, the Pearl of Allah, which was also found off Palawan, Philippines.
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Earlier this year, the second-biggest gem quality diamond ever recovered failed to sell at auction when bidding failed to meet the $70 million minimum that auction house Sotheby’s had hoped to get.
