BUSINESS ABROAD: Pearls from Silver Lips

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The northwest coast of Australia is one of the most desolate spots on earth. The nearest city of any size is Perth (pop. 376,000), some 1,450 miles to the south; mosquitoes and crocodiles infest the mangrove swamps; 12-ft. sharks cruise the lonely bays. In that unfriendly land, at remote Kuri Bay, a syndicate of Australians, Americans and Japanese called Pearls Proprietary Ltd. is turning out a product that has the world's jewelers agog. The product: fabulous pearls as big across as a 25-cent piece, of gem quality so fine that a Manhattan jeweler recently sold a choker of Kuri Bay pearls for $100,000.

Japan's famed culture-pearl industry produces pearls of similar quality, but the oysters suited to Japan's waters rarely develop a pearl bigger than two-fifths of an inch in diameter, and take between five and seven years in the process. By contrast, Australia's giant "silver lips" oyster shells are as big as dinner plates, can produce pearls twice as big as Japanese pearls in less than two years. The quality is so high that experts cannot tell Kuri Bay's from the best natural pearls without X ray.

Buttons & Pearls. Pearlers have long known about Australia's big shells. Before World War II, Japanese divers worked the beds, and the export of pearl shells reached $1,000,000 annually. The war wrecked the industry. Though the Australian government tried promoting the shells, the diving is dangerous (five divers were killed in one null bed alone last year), and cheap plastic buttons have all but ruined the market for those of expensive (up to $2 for a set of six nickel-sized buttons) mother-of-pearl.

The impetus for making the giant silver lips produce pearls instead of buttons came from the Australian government's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, which has the job of promoting new industries. Experiments produced only crude pearls, but showed promise. The man who turned the experiments into profits was Keith Bureau, an Australian businessman and partner in the big Melbourne importing firm of Brown & Bureau. Three years ago he formed a syndicate with a U.S. businessman, an Australian pearler, and asked Japanese Culture Pearl Expert Tokuichi Kuribayashi, president of Tokyo's Nippo Pearl Co. Ltd., to join them in growing pearls in the northwest.

Pigtoes & Secrets. With $500,000 capital, Pearls Proprietary Ltd. chose an isolated bay, named in honor of Pearler Kuribayashi, brought in an experienced team of 36 to start work. Into the big shells the pearlers inserted a special bead of shell cut from a big Mississippi River "pigtoe" mussel, then grafted in a piece of oyster flesh that was already exuding pearl-forming nacre. The first crop from the 100,000 oysters was harvested secretly in June 1958, and the results were staggering. Though only 30% of the seeded oysters produced pearls, there were thousands of big, beautiful pearls; the best was nine-tenths of an inch in diameter and turned out to be worth $4,900; eight others were appraised between $3,000 and $4,000; another 100 were worth better than $1,000 apiece. For their work and know-how, the Japanese got 50% of the crop; the rest went to the Australians and the American.