World’s largest freshwater pearl, thought to originate near Hong Kong, sells for US$374,000

The world’s largest known freshwater pearl, which once belonged to Catherine the Great, was sold Thursday in the Netherlands for 320,000 euros (US$374,000), auction house Venduehuis said.

Known as the Sleeping Lion pearl due to its distinctive shape, the pearl was likely formed in the first half of the 18th century in southern Chinese waters – possibly, and appropriately, the Pearl River.

The auctioneers said the misshapen jewel weighs some 120 grams and is almost 7cm long.

The pearl, bought by a Japanese trader for 320,000 euros, had been valued 340,000 and 540,000 euros.

Around 1765, the pearl was shipped to Batavia, now known as Jakarta, by a Dutch merchant of the United East Indies Company. It was there that it came into ownership of the company’s accountant, Hendrik Coenraad Sander.

“After Sander passed away, the pearl was auctioned off in Amsterdam in 1778 and acquired by Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia,” the auction house had said.