The Master Pearler
That recognition came with respect from their local communities, and with good reason – the pearling industry was a major source of employment in the region. By 1900, pearling accounted for more than a quarter of the nation’s exports.
In Australia, pearling has always been an industry forged in adventure, and never more so than in its early years. The Master Pearlers’ fleets of pearl luggers navigated vast uncharted seas off Australia’s remote northern coast. The divers would descend to the ocean floor wearing heavy brass helmets and lead-weighted diving suits attached to two lifelines – an air hose and a manila rope that connected them to the pearling lugger above.
Like spacemen in cumbersome suits, the divers walked along the ocean floor in search of their bounty – the Pinctada maxima pearl oyster. Not only was this particular oyster prized for having the world’s finest mother-of-pearl lining its shell, occasionally it also opened to reveal another jewel: the precious natural Australian South Sea pearl.
The late Nicholas Paspaley Snr (1913 – 1984) was one of Australia’s leading Master Pearlers. Having stepped aboard his first pearling lugger as a teenager, he was immediately swept up in the romance and adventure of the pearling industry and the unique way of life it offered – a community working together in search of a shimmering prize. It was the discovery of a single natural pearl that allowed him, aged just 19, to buy his first pearling lugger and start his own journey as a Master Pearler.
When the industry was faced with the collapse of the natural pearl business in the 1950s, the future looked bleak for the Master Pearlers. But Nicholas Paspaley’s vision and tenacity transformed the pearling industry. Under his guidance, the search for natural pearls was developed into the modern aquaculture and sustainable pearl-farming industries we have today, and for which Australia is recognised as a world leader in sustainable marine stewardship.
Today, the third generation of the Paspaley family continues to dedicate itself to the pearling business that still bears the Paspaley name, founded by Nicholas Paspaley more than 80 years ago. Together with a community of Master Pearlers, they work hand in hand with Mother Nature to nurture the most beautiful pearls in the world.
