The Arco Valley Pearl is a white natural blister baroque

pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...

with pink and yellow overtones. It measures 79 x 41 x 34 mm. It is the largest natural pearl outside a museum and the second biggest ever. Mongolian emperor

Khubilai Khan Kublai ; Mongolian script: ; (23 September 1215 – 18 February 1294), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder of the Yuan dynasty of China and the fifth khagan-emperor of th ...

reportedly gave it to Marco Polo. During 2007, an

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

collectionner said he bought the pearl from a French owner for 8M US$ but it is still owned by a European company (August 2008).

External links

Arco-Valley Pearl

by Dr. Shihaan M. Larif Individual pearls {{mineral-stub