Man Discovers Tooth-Shaped Family Heirloom Is Actually A Giant Pearl Worth $90 Million

• Filipino-Canadian man and his family own a huge “tooth-shaped” ornament.
• Abraham Reyes discovers the strange family heirloom is actually a giant pearl.
• Reyes brought the 27.65-kilogram mineral, dubbed as the Giga Pearl, to appraisers and valued it to be worth as much as $90 million.
• Despite its size, Pearl of Puerto Princess is still larger than the Giga Pearl.

A Filipino-Canadian man has recently discovered what may very well be the world’s biggest pearl – and it’s worth $90 million (Php 4.73 billion). Abraham Reyes and his family always had a “tooth-shaped” stone in the home for as long as they can remember.

He thought the item was just a simple home ornament that resembled a giant tooth. It was only after he brought the mineral to appraisers, out of curiosity, when he confirmed that it was a pearl.

According to Reyes, who is based in Ontario, Canada, his grandfather found the pearl when he bought a giant clam from a fisherman in the Philippines in 1959. Since then, the family has kept it as an heirloom, not realizing that it was actually a 1,000-year-old pearl.

He shared that they never thought the heirloom to be a pearl because of its shape, thus leaving the family oblivious of the treasure they had for so long. They learned of its value after Abraham appraised at the Gemological Institute of America in New York City.

Reyes named the family treasure “Giga Pearl” and commissioned a custom-made 22-carat gold holder in the shape of an octopus for it. Weighing 27.65 kilograms (60.957 lbs), the Giga Pearl easily dwarfs the Pearl of Lao Tzu, the previous record holder for the world’s largest pearl. The Pearl of Lao Tzu weighs 6.4 kilograms and was found in Palawan as well back in 1939.

The pearl now sits safely in a big vault at an undisclosed location in Toronto. Abraham Reyes hasn’t decided what to do with it just yet, but he’s thinking of putting it up for display in a museum.

Although the Giga Pearl has impressive size and quality, the Pearl of Puerto Princesa is a 34-kg., which was also found in Palawan, still eclipses it in terms of size and weight. The pearl that came from a giant clam was found by a fisherman stuck on his boat’s anchor. He took the giant pearl home, placing it under his bed for ten years for good luck; but he had forgotten about the object as time passed.

In 2016, when he was about to move from his residence, he remembered the treasure hidden in his hut and decided to take it to his aunt, Amurao, who also happened to be the local tourism department chief. Appraisers have valued the fisherman’s pearl to be worth $100 million.