Photograph Exhibits Large Pearl Filipino Fisherman Stored Beneath His Mattress for 10 Years?

In late September 2024, a Reddit consumer posted a photo purportedly exhibiting a 75-pound pearl (34 kilograms) valued at roughly $100 million. The put up claimed it was found by a fisherman within the Philippines, who stored it below his mattress for 10 years as a superb luck attraction.

The picture had circulated on-line for years, with examples courting again so far as 2016. It additionally appeared on X, Threads, Instagram and 9GAG elsewhere in September 2024.

In abstract, the image is genuine and has been shared by the Filipino media and a number of other respected western information retailers, lots of which reported it was certainly stored below a fisherman’s mattress for 10 years.

However crucially, no official sources have confirmed it as a real pearl, and a few specialists have solid doubt on that essential a part of the declare. Furthermore, as its authenticity couldn’t be confirmed, its alleged estimated worth of $100 million likewise couldn’t be verified. Nevertheless, preliminary exams did reportedly discover it had the traits of a pearl. Subsequently, given the inconclusive and contradictory proof, we’ve rated this declare as unproven.

Is The Photograph Actual?

A number of respected information retailers printed the photograph in 2016, comparable to the BBC, Rappler, and The Guardian. The previous described it as reportedly the “world’s largest,” however added that gemologists nonetheless wanted to verify to officers whether or not it was certainly the world’s largest pearl.

Likewise, native newspaper Palawan Information included the picture in an article printed on Aug. 21, 2016. That outlet credited the image to Aileen Cynthia Amurao, a vacationer officer for the Filipino metropolis of Puerto Princesa.

(Wayback Machine)

The photograph was additionally posted on Fb by Amurao (seemingly now Maggay), who shared another picture of her standing subsequent to the item 5 days afterward Aug. 25, 2016. Equally, the City Government of Puerto Princesa posted quite a few pictures of the merchandise from totally different angles in a Fb album across the similar time.

Related Press published comparable pictures on Aug. 25, and the captions stated they had been supplied by Puerto Princesa Tourism Workplace.

(Fb web page for Metropolis Authorities of Puerto Princesa)

Snopes has contacted Puerto Princesa’s City Tourism Office, City Tourism Department, and City Information Department for feedback and we are going to replace this text if we obtain a response. 

Is It a Actual Pearl?

The Metropolis Authorities of Puerto Princesa’s Val Pillerva stated in an e mail that “unofficial exams to find out its genuineness” had been carried out, however the former metropolis tourism officer declined the thought of finishing up an “precise check.” Pillerva added:

A biology skilled from the College of the Philippines as soon as visited the Metropolis Tourism Division and flat out said that it was not a pearl since pearls don’t take such form and it was too heavy (34 kilograms) for its measurement and was not shiny not like the way it appeared on-line. It was pulled out from the workplace in round 2017. It was accomplished discreetly and a few particulars had been nonetheless unknown even to Metropolis Tourism employees.

Likewise, on Aug. 24, 2016, The Guardian said the merchandise had not but been authenticated, whereas the Palawan Information article added: “Amurao has referred to as the eye of the Gemologist Institute, amongst different correct authorities or companies, for authentication and appraising of the stated pearl.”

An AP Information article from Aug. 25 echoed this — together with the descriptions on its photos — and as did Amurao (now Maggay) in a Fb post. 

We’ve got reached out to Maggay and can replace this text if we obtain a response.

Based on a YouTube video posted in early September 2016 by GMA Public Affairs — a division of the Philippine media conglomerate GMA Community, Inc. — Palawan officers carried out a preliminary examination of the item to check its authenticity.

The narrator of the footage stated the check discovered traits of an actual pearl, nevertheless a marine biologist named Floredel Galon, countered this by saying its options didn’t match these of a pearl.

A 2017 Gemmological Brief by the Schweizerische Stiftung für Edelstein-Forschung (SSEF), or in English, Swiss Basis for the Analysis of Gem stones, titled “Faux Pearls Created from Tridacna gigas Shells” additionally questioned the item’s authenticity.

Authors Michael S. Krzemnicki and Laurent E. Cartier concluded the so-called pearl, amongst others they noticed, was “pretend” and “unambiguously” a bead “reduce and polished from Tridacna shell.”

Snopes contacted Krzemnicki and Cartier for a remark and can replace this text if we obtain a response.

We’ve got additionally reached out to a number of organizations specializing in gemology and pearls, together with The American Gem Trade Association, Gemlab Philippines, The Gemmological Association of Great Britain, British Pearl Association (BPA), Canadian Institute of Gemmology, International Gemological Alliance, and the Bahrain Institute for Pearls and Gemstones. As of this writing, we’ve obtained a response from two entities.

Gemological Institute of America (GIA) stated they might not touch upon the precise merchandise as they haven’t examined it. Nevertheless, the spokesperson talked about Pearl-Information.com web site, a website for jewelers, pearl farmers and pearl specialists, which included a thread on the in-question discovery that learn (emphasis in daring ours):

The [alleged pearl] was reported on by NPR, Smithsonian Journal, Forbes and so many extra. Sadly, none of those publications vetted the claims made earlier than selecting up the story. Any skilled may have instructed them it was not a pearl. It was a chunk of shell.

A spokesperson for the International Gem Society (IGS) stated they “have not been capable of confirm the authenticity as a result of nobody has been to see it in individual. Nevertheless, we will solid doubt on the $100m valuation. It’s extremely unlikely {that a} sale would attain that value. We’ve got a saying at IGS: ‘The stone could also be uncommon, however the purchaser is rarer.'”

Quite a few reputable western news outlets and Filipino media said the fisherman had stored it below his mattress for 10 years.

Sources