Pearls of Broome
Originating as a pearling port in the 1880s, Broome’s storied history is closely tied to the ups and downs of the pearling industry.
WORDS Katrina Lobley
It’s said that Broome (Rubibi) was “built on buttons”. Nowadays, as you wander around the laidback tourist town where the dress code at even its fanciest restaurant is the irreverent “Kimberley casual”, it’s hard to imagine that global fashion played such a pivotal role in its history.
That is until you come across the glittering jewellery stores, including the luxury Paspaley boutique, which line the downtown streets. Most of these stores specialise in fine pearls, the precious aquatic gem that put this West Kimberley hub on the map. But why here, of all places? What made far-flung Broome and its sparkling turquoise waters an epicentre for the pearling industry?
Let’s roll back the clock to when the charms of the iridescent pearl oyster shell were first recorded. Northern Australian rock art suggests that Australian pearl shell was valued by others as far back as the 16th century when it was collected by fishermen from Makassar in Indonesia. For centuries, Aboriginal people have carved the inside of the alluring shells, which they associate with water, rain and life. Those patterned incisions were then stained with ochre and traded with inland communities across northwest and central Australia.
This distinctive traditional art form, known as riji, is still practised today. You’ll find it among Paspaley’s collection of priceless mother-of-pearl artefacts, as well as in the gallery at Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm, a 2.5-hour drive north-east of Broome near the top of the Dampier Peninsula.
Soon, it was not only the shimmering pearl shells that were sought but also what was occasionally discovered nestled inside. In 1850, entrepreneurs collected the pearl oyster Pinctada albina at Shark Bay (Gutharraguda) – about 800 kilometres north of Perth (Boorloo) – but it was the 1861 discovery of the Pinctada maxima shells further north at Nickol Bay on the Pilbara Coast that drew pearlers to Western Australia. By the 1880s, pearlers had set their sights on the warm, pristine waters of Roebuck Bay (Yawuru Nagulagun), which provided the perfect living conditions for the dinner plate-sized oysters.
Soon, Broome’s pearl industry had skyrocketed so much that, by 1910, it was the world’s largest pearling centre, supplying a flourishing global pearl-button market. Given the fabulous wealth that could result from working in the industry, many people – including Japanese, Chinese and Malay immigrants – flocked to Broome to chase their dreams. Today, these influences that came from far and wide make up the multicultural fabric of Broome. Then there was the massive scientific breakthrough of creating cultured pearls within the oyster shells. In 1904, two Japanese scientists patented a technique (which may have drawn on the work of Australian scientist William Saville-Kent) to cultivate round pearls. The technique involves implanting a nucleus into an oyster – a process known as “seeding”. In turn, the oyster reacts by building layers of nacre around the foreign body to protect itself – and voila, you have a pearl. Japanese pearler Kokichi Mikimoto – a name still associated with luxury pearl jewellery - launched these cultured pearls onto the market in 1916. The technique was a closely guarded secret for some time. The Australian cultured pearl industry began in Kuri Bay, about 370 kilometres north of Broome, in 1956.
What goes up, though, usually comes crashing down – and that’s what happened to Broome’s pearling fortunes. The invention of plastic buttons in the mid-1900s killed off demand for pearl-shell buttons and was just one of the serious challenges the industry faced. Pearl farms – like Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm, Willie Creek Pearl Farm, and Paspaley Pearls – have proven flexible over recent decades, with most pivoting to add tourism offerings like guided tours, live oyster farming demonstrations, boat tours, and the opportunity to see pearl seeding and harvesting. In recognition of the significance of the region’s pearling heritage to Australia’s history, culture and Indigenous community, the Australian Government added the West Kimberley to its National Heritage List in 2011. It’s a pearler of a place, no matter which way you look at it.
“Broome’s pearl industry had skyrocketed so much that, by 1910, it was the world’s largest pearling centre.”
THE DETAILS
TOUR
Learn more about Broome and its fascinating pearling history with The Paspaley Pearl Farm Tour by Journey Beyond. This new tour offers the opportunity to experience the most beautiful pearls in the world from a behind-the-scenes perspective. These intimate, small group tours run for a limited season and are available to book now until October.