乐生活Sleeping Lion, the world’s largest natural freshwater pearl, was auctioned in the Netherlands and finally bought by Japanese traders for 320,000 euros (about 2.4 million yuan).
The sleeping lion is about 70 mm long and weighs about 120 grams. Its irregular appearance is like a sleeping lion. According to TIME, the sleeping lion was formed in China from 1700 to 1760 and during the reign of Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty. Although the export of large pearls was prohibited in the Qing Dynasty, the Pearl was smuggled onto the Dutch East India Company ship and shipped to Europe between 1765 and 1770. It is said that the first European owner of the Pearl was Hendrik Coenraad Sander, the company’s chief accountant. After Sander’s death, the Sleeping Lion was first auctioned in 1778. It was photographed by the client of Catherine II, the Queen of Russia, and brought back to St. Petersburg for display in a special glass case of the Royal Treasure Gallery. After the death of Queen Catherine, "Sleeping Lion" was sold several times, and later purchased by a Dutch goldsmith in 1865 as a family collection until the Amsterdam Pearl Society bought it in 1979 and offered it to gemstone researchers and museums for academic research.
"Sleeping Lion" is unique, not only because it is the "natural" largest pearl, but also because it has traveled a lot of ways, according to jewelry experts.
