Paspaley, officially the Paspaley Pearling Company, a
private company
A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in the respective listed markets, but rather the company's stock is ...
, is
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
's largest
and oldest
pearling company; that cultivates, farms, harvests, wholesales and retails
South Sea pearls for the purposes of luxury jewellery supply and manufacture. Paspaley claims that it is a strong advocate of environmental responsibility within the pearling industry.
The Paspaley Group has a diversified portfolio of investments including a naval fleet, aircraft, a shopping mall, an office block, agriculture properties, resorts, and a vineyard. Members of the Paspaley family had an interest in Australia's largest
immigration detention
Immigration detention is the policy of holding individuals suspected of visa violations, illegal entry or unauthorized arrival, as well as those subject to deportation and removal until a decision is made by immigration authorities to grant a vi ...
centre, located south of
Darwin, Northern Territory
Darwin ( ; Larrakia: ) is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. With an estimated population of 147,255 as of 2019, the city contains the majority of the residents of the sparsely populated Northern Territory.
It is the smalle ...
.
Paspaley Pearls
According to Paspaley, its pearls are particularly known for their 'orient', which is the combination of transparent lustre and unique play of colours which is exhibited by pearls with fine quality
Paspaley operates 20 pearl farms dotted along the coastline of north-
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
. Paspaley claims that it maintains a ‘leave no trace’ environmental policy.
In 2012, the area in which Paspaley operates was designated as a
marine wilderness sanctuary. Paspaley stated that this area was still in pristine condition and is a breeding ground for
humpback whale
The humpback whale (''Megaptera novaeangliae'') is a species of baleen whale. It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae) and is the only species in the genus ''Megaptera''. Adults range in length from and weigh up to . The hump ...
s.
Paspaley Pearls appear in the collections of
Tiffany & Co
Tiffany & Co. (colloquially known as Tiffany's) is a high-end luxury jewelry and specialty retailer, headquartered on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. It sells jewelry, sterling silver, porcelain, crystal, stationery, fragrances, water bottles, watc ...
,
Cartier Cartier may refer to:
People
* Cartier (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name)
* Cartier Martin (born 1984), American basketball player
Places
* Cartier Island, an island north-west of Australia that is part of Australia' ...
,
Harry Winston
Harry Winston (March 1, 1896December 8, 1978) was an American jeweler. He donated the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institution in 1958 after owning it for a decade. He also traded the Portuguese Diamond to the Smithsonian in 1963 in exchang ...
,
Chow Tai Fook
Chow Tai Fook group is a Hong Kong–based, privately-owned conglomerate with holdings in the jewellery, property development, hotel, department store, transportation, energy, telecommunications, port, casino, and other businesses. Despite the ...
, Falconer, and more. In 1992 a single Paspaley strand of 23 pearls set a world record for cultured pearls when it was auctioned for 2.3 million at
Sotheby's
Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...
, New York.
Retail and wholesale
Paspaley operate nine retail stores globally, with a strong presence in Australia – most recently in Crown – Melbourne, Australia; as well as the
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 ...
. In addition to the retail stores, Paspaley also operates the Paspaley e-boutique.
Paspaley Pearling Company is the pearling wholesale department of the Paspaley Group of Companies. This department sells Paspaley Australian South Sea pearls to a variety of jewellery brands as well as independent retailers.
History
Early history
Paspaley was established by the Paspalis family, who migrated from
Kastellorizo
Kastellorizo or Castellorizo (; el, Καστελλόριζο, Kastellórizo), officially Megisti ( ''Megísti''), is a Greece, Greek island and Communities and Municipalities of Greece, municipality of the Dodecanese in the Eastern Mediterranean ...
, Greece to Australia in 1919.
The family settled in
Cossack, Western Australia
Cossack, formerly known as Tien Tsin, is an historic ghost town located north of Perth and from Roebourne in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The nearest town to Cossack, which is located on Butcher Inlet (aka Butcher's Inlet) at the ...
. At that time, the Australian north coast was the
world's most important pearling area, with the towns of
Broome, Western Australia
Broome, also known as Rubibi by the Yawuru people, is a coastal pearling and tourist town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, north of Perth. In the the population was recorded as 14,660. It is the largest town in the Kimberley reg ...
, Cossack, and
Darwin being the world's leading pearling ports. The Paspalis family were among the few Europeans living in the area with
Aboriginal inhabitants and Asian pearl fishermen. Pearling was one of the few viable industries in the area, and Theodosis Paspalis with the help of his family, built a pearling fleet that became the basis of the family company.
Nicholas Paspaley joined the pearling trade at 14 years of age. By 1932, at the age of 19, he ran his own
pearling lugger
Pearling in Western Australia includes the harvesting and farming of both pearls and pearl shells (for mother of pearl) along the north-western coast of Western Australia.
The practice of collecting pearl shells existed well before European s ...
, diving for natural pearls, and for
mother-of-pearl shell. When
Port Hedland
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...
began to become less profitable due to exhaustion of the pearl fields, Paspaley made the decision to move to the uncharted waters of Darwin. In Darwin, Paspaley increased his pearling fleet to 5 pearling ships. It was in Darwin that Nicholas Paspalis changed the family name to Paspaley, and established the Paspaley Pearling Company.
At the outbreak of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the Australian government impounded and then destroyed all pearling luggers in North Australia to keep them away from Japanese invaders.
Post World War II
After WWII the Japanese
Akoya pearl industry was rebuilt in Japan, and exports of Japanese Akoya
Cultured pearl
Cultured pearls are formed within a cultured pearl sac with human intervention in the interior of productive living molluscs in a variety of conditions depending upon the mollusc and the goals. Just as the same as natural pearls, cultured pearls ...
s boomed to international markets. Similarly, post World War II, the Australian mother-of-pearl shell industry also boomed as renewed demand ensured record prices for mother-of-pearl buttons right through to the mid-1950s.
Nicholas Paspaley had purchased four luggers which had been abandoned during the war by the
Royal Australian Navy
The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...
on Darwin's beaches. Once again, after rebuilding the luggers, Nicholas resumed pearling out of Darwin. However, the invention of the plastic button in the mid 1950s reduced demand for mother-of-pearl shell, virtually devastating the industry overnight, with the fleets of pearling luggers abandoned once more on the beaches.
Not to be defeated by this sudden collapse of the industry, Nicholas drew inspiration from the success of the booming Japanese Akoya cultured pearl industry, and sought to resurrect the South Sea pearl project commenced by Baron Iwasaki in 1916 – this time taking advantage of North Australia's abundant and superior beds of South Sea pearl oysters – with the dream to cultivate the world's largest and most valuable cultured pearl – the cultured South Sea pearl.
In the early 1950s Nicholas negotiated a joint venture project with the Kuribayashi family of Japan – employing the Iwasaki/Mitsubishi experts who had pioneered the project before the war. Although the Kuribayashi's had no pearl farming experience, the Kuribayashi family were the owners of the Japanese pearling fleet that travelled from Japan each year, diving for mother-of-pearl shell and pearls off the North Australian coast. Their experience in the pearling industry made them a suitable partner for the project.
The Australian Government subsequently removed the ban on pearl culture activities in Australia, and authorised the establishment of the first two pearl farms in Australia. One at
Kuri Bay
Kuri Bay is a remote coastal bay in the far north of Western Australia in the Kimberley region, about north of Broome. It is a designated point on the Western Australian Forecast Areas, utilised by the Bureau of Meteorology as a boundary for ...
(named after Kuribayashi), and one at
Port Essington
Port Essington is an inlet and historic site located on the Cobourg Peninsula in the Garig Gunak Barlu National Park in Australia's Northern Territory. It was the site of an early attempt at British settlement, but now exists only as a remote ...
. Initially, the Kuri Bay project was controlled by the Kuribayashi family, and the Port Essington project was controlled by Paspaley Pearling Company. Ultimately – In 1989, under the stewardship of Nick Paspaley Jnr., the two projects were merged under the Paspaley Pearling Company banner.
During the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, the Australia pearl farms operated with virtually the same pre-WWII Iwasaki/Mitsubishi technology. Pearl production flourished and increased steadily annually. Cultured South Sea pearls became known simply as "South Sea pearls". They dominated pearl jewellery markets worldwide, and established a distinct "premier" category of cultured pearls – the "South Sea Pearl". These pearls had the effect of resurrected the existence once more of important pearl jewellery in leading jewellery houses around the world. South Sea pearl prices were hundreds of times higher than the Japanese Akoya cultured pearl prices.
Nicholas Paspaley had lived to realise his dream of creating cultured pearls of the same quality as his natural South Sea pearls – the most beautiful and most valuable of the "old world" pearls.
In 1982 Nicholas Paspaley was appointed
Member of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
for his services to the pearling industry, to business and to community service. He was also awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship for his services to the community through
Rotary International
Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, prof ...
. Nicholas Paspaley lived the romantic life of a true adventurer and pioneer. He dedicated his whole life to the pearling industry in the remoteness of North Australia. He died in 1984. Nicholas's wife Vivienne Lavinia Paspaley (1913–2003) worked with her husband to build the Paspaley Pearling Company and was also a significant figure in the social development of Darwin.
Nick Paspaley Jnr joined the Paspaley Pearling Company in 1969 after graduating from
Sydney University
The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's six ...
as a Bachelor of Economics. Nick worked with his father eventually pioneering modern pearl cultivating techniques that enabled the realisation of his father's vision.
In 1999 Nick Paspaley Jnr was appointed
Companion of the Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...
for his services to Australia's export industry.
Nick Paspaley Jnr was instrumental in the establishment of the South Sea Pearl Consortium – the non-profit organisation committed to promoting and protecting the reputation of the South Sea pearl. Nick is a board member of CIBJO – The World Jewelry Federation
whose charter is the promotion of ethics and responsibility in the jewellery industry for the protection of consumers, and to foster confidence in the jewellery industry.
Management and structure
Paspaley Pearls is a family-run and -owned business, with offices in Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, and the UAE. Paspaley operates a joint venture with its original Japanese joint venture partners. The company operates pearl retailing and wholesaling businesses. Pearl production is one business unit of the diversified Paspaley Group of Companies.
Nick Paspaley is the Chairman of the Paspaley Group of Companies. His son, James, is the chief executive officer of the family-controlled group. Nick Paspaley's nephews, Peter and Michael Bracher, oversee the worldwide distribution of the company's pearls.
The following businesses operate under Paspaley Group of Companies:
*Paspaley Pearls
*Paspaley Pearling Company
*Paspaley Pearls Properties
*Aviation
*Paspaley Pastoral Group
*Bunnamagoo Wines
*Pearl Marine Engineering
See also
*
354 George Street, Sydney
354 George Street, Sydney is a heritage-listed retail and office building and former bank building located at 354 George Street, Sydney, George Street, in the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government area of New ...
References
External links
*
{{portal bar, Companies, Australia
Pearls
Privately held companies of Australia
Luxury brands
Australian companies established in 1932
Design companies established in 1932
Jewellery retailers of Australia
Jewellery companies of Australia
Retail companies established in 1932
Non-renewable resource companies established in 1932
Companies based in Darwin, Northern Territory