After being turned in by a fisherman, this enormous pearl has the potential to be the largest ever discovered, five times bigger than the previous record.

Ten years ago, off the coast of Palawan Island, Philippines, an unidentified man discovered a 34-kilogram stone.

He preserved the $100 million in his dilapidated wooden home as a “good luck charm,” oblivious to its potentially eye-watering worth.

The unidentified fisherman found this 34-kilogram, two-foot-long pearl inside a massive claim off the shore of Palawan Island, Philippines, over ten years ago; it has the potential to be worth $100 million.

But he had to clean out and relocate because of a fire that happened at the home earlier this year.

In rural Puerto Princesca, the fisherman turned it over to the local tourism officer, who was shocked and confirmed that it had been discovered in a big clam.

The current largest Pearl of Allah, which weighs 6.4 kilograms and is valued at $35 million, is dwarfed by the valuable gem, which is an incredible 1 foot wide and 2.2 feet long.

The fisherman threw the anchor down, but it became snagged on a rock during a storm, according to Aileen Cynthia Amurao, a tourism officer.

He swam down to free the anchor after seeing that it was stuck on a shell; he also took the shell with him. He kept it at home for a decade.

He simply kept it at home as a charm for good fortune, not knowing its value.

When he presented it to us, we were astounded. Get in touch with gemologists ASAP so we can get it completely certified. A number of international authorities, including the Gemologist Institute, have not yet authenticated the item.

We think Puerto Princesca will break records and receive more honors because it is home to the largest natural huge pearl ever discovered, which is derived from a giant clam.

Pictured here is the fisherman who, almost a decade ago, made his find off the Philippine island of Palawan.

We intend to maintain this in the Philippines and are crossing our fingers that it will increase tourism.

Today, the public was shown the jewel.

Found in 1934 off the coast of Palawan, Philippines, the Pearl of Allah (often called the Pearl of Lao Tze) holds the record for largest pearl ever discovered. Stop by New York’s Ripley’s Believe It or Not! to see it on display.

The finding of this jewel off Palawan Island is highly rare because clams rarely produce pearls. Oysters produce the vast majority, yet even when they do, their frequency is still below 1 in 10,000.

The enormous clam that laid this gem can be as long as four feet and as heavy as five hundred pounds.

Inside their shells, mollusks create natural pearls as a defense mechanism against parasites and other harmful irritants. Contrary to common assumption, pearls are not usually formed from a single grain of sand.

In order to protect itself from further harm, the animal constructs a pearl sac and releases calcium carbonate into it. The secretion process is carried out multiple times to create a pearl.

With each additional layer of calcium carbonate, the jewel grows in size. It takes about two or three years for a saltwater pearl to grow, but a larger pearl like the one at Puerto Princesca would have taken a lot longer.

Divers risked as much as half their lives in the nineteenth century when searching for wild pearls; today, the practice is much safer. Shark attacks and the debilitating effects of decompression sickness, or the bends, were challenges they had to overcome.

The National Geographic News