World’s largest freshwater pearl sold at auction for EUR 320,000

The largest freshwater pearl in the world, known as the “Sleeping Lion”, sold at an auction in the Netherlands for EUR 320,000 on Thursday. However, it sold below its estimated value of EUR 340,000-540,000, according to the Venduehuis auction house.

The pearl is almost seven centimetres long and weighs around 120 grams, and it is believed to have formed in China between 1700 and 1760, and it was shipped to Europe via the Dutch East India Company. It was once owned by Russian empress Catherine the Great.

The empress kept the pearl in the Hermitage Palace in St. Petersburg until 1976. In the turmoil that followed her death, the pearl disappeared, but was later found in Poland.

Photo: Yves Hermant/Reuters

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