Thai girl Patjariya Gatip bites into a rare orange Melo pearl worth approximately $28,000 while eating BBQ on August 11.
The Melo pearl that Patjariya found while eating BBQ. (Photo: Thai Tiger)
On that day, Patjariya Gatip, 27, was taken by her boyfriend Sittidate Chaiwan to a BBQ restaurant in Phayao province, southern Thailand, to celebrate her birthday. Patjariya recounted that while eating shellfish, she bit into something very hard. After taking it out, Patjariya discovered it was a round orange stone that resembled a pearl.
A friend who was with them joked that Patjariya might become a millionaire because the item she found looked very much like a Melo pearl, also known as a Melo shell pearl.
After searching for information online, Sittidate and his girlfriend were shocked to discover that the price of a Melo pearl could exceed 1 million Thai Baht (over $27,700). The next day, they decided to send it to the Chiang Mai Laboratory, where it was confirmed to be a Melo pearl.
Sittidate immediately posted a photo of the pearl on his Facebook account for anyone interested in purchasing it. Patjariya hopes this pearl will help her pay off some family debts.
According to Thai Tiger, the Melo pearl is a natural pearl, with a light orange color, created by the large shellfish species called Melo Melo. It is one of the most expensive and rarest types of pearls, with only one found among thousands of shells.
Melo pearls can be found in the Andaman Sea and the South China Sea in four countries: Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand, and Cambodia.
The price of a Melo pearl can reach $200,000 to $250,000, equivalent to 6 to 7.5 million Thai Baht. They come in various colors, from light yellow to orange. Orange Melo pearls are typically the most expensive.
