Paspaley: How a Kastellorizian Family Built Australia’s Pearl Empire

From a small Greek island to Australia’s far north, the Paspaley family turned a single pearling lugger into one of the most famous names in South Sea pearls.

From Kastellorizo to the pearling coast

The family, originally called Paspalis, migrated from the island of Kastellorizo to Australia and settled in Cossack, Western Australia. At the time, Australia’s north coast was the most important pearling region in the world, with Broome, Cossack and Darwin its leading ports.

Theodosis Paspalis and his family built up a pearling fleet that became the foundation of the business. Nicholas Paspalis joined the trade at 14, and by 1932, aged 19, he was running his own lugger, diving for natural pearls and mother-of-pearl shell.

When the pearl beds at Port Hedland ran out, Nicholas moved to Darwin. There he built his fleet up to five boats, changed the family name to Paspaley and founded the Paspaley Pearling Company.

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War, plastic and a new start

During the Second World War, the Australian government seized and destroyed the region’s pearling luggers so they could not fall into Japanese hands. After the war, Nicholas bought four luggers that the Royal Australian Navy had left on Darwin’s beaches, rebuilt them and went back to pearling.

Then, in the mid-1950s, the arrival of plastic buttons collapsed the market for mother-of-pearl shell. Nicholas turned to cultured pearls instead. In the early 1950s he formed a joint venture with Japan’s Kuribayashi family, who brought in Japanese pearl specialists, and the company still works with its original Japanese partners today.

Two farms were licensed: Kuri Bay, run at first by the Kuribayashi family, and Port Essington, run by Paspaley. In 1989, under Nick Paspaley Jnr, the two were merged into the Paspaley Pearling Company.

The pearls

Paspaley now runs about 20 pearl farms along Australia’s north-west coast and is based in Darwin, with offices in Australia, Hong Kong, Japan and the United Arab Emirates. Its South Sea pearls are prized for their “orient”, a translucent lustre with a play of colour.

The pearls appear in collections by Tiffany & Co, Cartier, Harry Winston and Chow Tai Fook, and the company sells its own jewellery under the Paspaley brand. In 1992, a 23-pearl Paspaley strand sold at Sotheby’s in New York for US$2.3 million, a world record for cultured pearls.

The family today

Nicholas Paspaley was made an MBE in 1982 for services to pearling, business and the community, and died in 1984. His wife, Vivienne Paspaley, helped build the company and was a prominent figure in Darwin’s community life.

Their son, Nick Paspaley AC, joined the business in 1969 after studying economics at the University of Sydney and pioneered modern pearl-culturing methods. He was made a Companion of the Order of Australia in 1999 for services to export, and chairs the Paspaley Group. His son James is an executive director.

Beyond pearls, the family group has interests in property, aviation, farming and Bunnamagoo Wines.

Source: Wikipedia

*Related: Paspaley Celebrates Pearl Divers With First-Ever Men’s Jewellery Line

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