PEARL CORNER
POWER TO THE SOUTH SEA PEARL
Pearl Corner: Power to the South Sea Pearl
What three things do South Sea Pearls have in common with Aston Martin? By LOUISE TIPPEY
Location of the South Sea Pearl
South Sea pearl farms are mainly found in North
Western Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines.
46 JEWELLERY FOCUS
The pearl farms operating in
waters off northern Australia are
world renowned for their white
South Sea pearls.
Australia
It wouldn’t do to write about South
Sea pearls without mentioning the
infamous Paspaley family. Founded
in 1935, their roots were in natural
pearling and progressed into culturing
pearls in the 1950s with a Japanese
family. They were devoted to develop
unique techniques focusing on
producing high quality pearls.
Today Paspaley are a world leader (and the largest
pearling company in Australia) with their research
and development of the Pinctada maxima oyster.
Furthermore their commitment to sustainable
aquaculture practises is formidable. As far as the
global pearl production goes, those derived from the
Australian South Seas account for a mere 0.05%
of the pearls harvested, but upwards of 35% of the
value across the world (National Geographic, April
2016). Less than 1% of pearls produced in Australia
are golden pearls and these are so rare that they can
command prices in the region of $75,000 (Willie Creek
Pearls, Broome, Australia 2017).
The world’s biggest producers of golden pearls
are from farms in the Philippines and Indonesia
(Indonesia being the world’s largest producer);
where warmer water temperatures seem to increase
the chances of producing the rare pearl. The pearl
farms are concentrated in the eastern areas of
Indonesia including Bali, Lombok and Papua. Atlas
Pearls, a global eco pearl farmer, have five pearl
farms spread across the Indonesian archipelago and
they produce some of the world’s best silver and
white South Sea pearls.
The Indonesian cultured pearl industry is highly
beneficial to the economic welfare of the country’s
remote and often impoverished coastal communities.
In the Philippines most pearl farming is located on
the islan