Pearl Jewellery Never Seen Before: When Australian Pearls Meet New Zealand Pāua Pearls
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Time to read 5 min
In 2025, Antonia and Mike Radon, founders of Arapawa Blue Pearls, travelled across Australia to visit some of the country's leading pearl farms.
Their goal was to learn more about Australia's pearling traditions, discover how South Sea pearls are cultivated, and connect with fellow pearl farmers who share the same passion for the ocean.
During their journey, they visited the historic Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm in Western Australia and met James Brown, Managing Director of Pearls of Australia. What began as a conversation about pearls quickly became a sharing of family histories, farming knowledge, and a mutual appreciation for the dedication required to cultivate exceptional pearls.
From this encounter, a special connection was formed between two family-owned pearl businesses. That connection ultimately inspired the unique collection presented today.
Mike and Antonia Radon, founder of Arapawa Blue Pearls with James Brown Managing Director of Pearls of Australia
Mike showing an abalone shell to James Brown
A Rare Collaboration Between Two Pearl Farming Legacies
Exceptional pearl jewellery is often born from remarkable stories. For the first time ever, Arapawa Blue Pearls and Pearls of Australia have brought together two distinct pearl farming traditions from two different oceans to create a collection unlike any other.
Combining the iridescent beauty of New Zealand pāua pearls with some of Australia's most celebrated cultured pearls, this collaboration celebrates craftsmanship, family heritage, and a shared respect for the ocean.
The result is two exclusive pearl necklace designs that showcase the extraordinary colours and character of pearls cultivated in some of the world's most pristine marine environments.
Where Does Pāua Live in New Zealand?
Pāua new zealand populations span the full length of the country, from the Three Kings Islands in the north to Stewart Island in the south, and east to the Chatham Islands. They inhabit shallow, cool coastal waters, typically between one and ten metres deep, where rocky reefs meet strong tidal movement and abundant kelp.
The Marlborough Sounds, with its sheltered bays and cold currents, is one such place. It is here, among the sounds, that Arapaoa Island sits, and where the story of pāua pearl farming in New Zealand quietly unfolds.
Why Is the Pāua Shell So Remarkable?
Understanding what is pāua means reckoning with its shell, and specifically with what makes pāua shell so unlike anything else found in nature.
The exterior tells nothing. It is brown, barnacled, worn by the sea. But the interior? The interior is something else entirely: a living mosaic of deep blue, green, violet, and rose that shifts with every angle of light. No two pāua shells are identical. No artificial dye or engineered material has ever quite replicated it.
Australian Akoya Pearl Jewellery from Broken Bay Pearl Farm
Pāua Pearl Jewellery from Arapawa Blue Pearls
Pearls of Australia: Pioneers of Australian Pearling Since 1946
Pearls of Australia was born from an extraordinary pearling legacy that began in 1946, when Dean Brown sailed to the remote Kimberley coast of Western Australia with a vision to cultivate some of the world's most remarkable pearls.
Over the decades, the Brown family helped shape Australia's cultured pearl industry, establishing iconic farms including Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm and later Broken Bay Pearl Farm.
Today, as the family celebrates 80 years of pearling heritage, Pearls of Australia continues this legacy through a commitment to exceptional Australian South Sea and Akoya pearls, sustainable farming practices, and a deep respect for provenance. Their mission is not only to cultivate beautiful pearls, but to share the stories, people, and pristine marine environments behind every pearl they produce.
Pearls from Pearls of Australia
Arapawa Blue Pearls: The Home of New Zealand's Rare Blue Pearls
On the remote shores of Arapaoa Island in New Zealand's Marlborough Sounds, Arapawa Blue Pearls has spent more than three decades perfecting the art of culturing some of the rarest pearls in the world within pāua, New Zealand's native abalone.
Unlike traditional pearls, pāua pearls are renowned for their extraordinary palette of colours, displaying vibrant shades of blue, green, purple, and even gold. These colours are not dyed or enhanced; they are created naturally by the unique nacre produced by the pāua itself.
Every pāua pearl carries a distinctive appearance, making each piece of pearl jewellery truly one of a kind.
Pāua Mabe Pearls from Arapawa Blue Pearls
The Southern Seas Water Drop Necklace: Australian Akoya Pearls Meet Pāua Beauty
The first creation in this exclusive collection is the Southern Seas Water Drop Necklace, this unique pearl necklace combines luminous pāua mabe pearls cultivated by Arapawa Blue Pearls with refined Australian akoya pearls from Broken Bay Pearl Farm.
As part of the Pearls of Australia family, Broken Bay Pearl Farm, located on the New South Wales coast, is recognised for producing some of Australia's most beautiful Akoya pearls.
The contrast between the classic beauty of Akoya pearls and the vivid colours of pāua creates a striking piece of pearl jewellery that feels both contemporary and deeply connected to nature.
The Southern Seas Trilogy Necklace: A Meeting of Two Iconic Pearls
The second design, the Southern Seas Trilogy Necklace, celebrates the meeting of two southern ocean treasures.
This remarkable pearl necklace pairs pāua mabe pearls cultivated by Arapawa Blue Pearls in New Zealand's Marlborough Sounds with Australian South Sea mabe pearls from the historic Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm in Western Australia, where the Brown family's pearling journey began in 1946.
Mabe pearls are also known as blister pearls or half pearls.
Australian South Sea mabe pearls are cultivated inside the shell of the Pinctada maxima, the largest pearl oyster species in the world. Over a period of four to five years, these pearls form on the inside of the shell, where the nacre-producing mantle tissue coats a mould fixed to the inner shell, layer by layer, with mother of pearl.
Pāua mabe pearls, meanwhile, can only be cultivated within New Zealand's native pāua abalone (Haliotis iris), a species found nowhere else in the world. Formed when the pāua coats a nucleus attached to the inner shell with layers of iridescent nacre, they are cultivated over four to five years and develop the vibrant blues, greens, purples, and golds unique to this species.
Why Pāua Pearls and Australian Pearls Work So Beautifully Together
Although they originate from different species and environments, pāua pearls and Australian cultured pearls share an important characteristic: authenticity.
Both are shaped slowly by nature and carefully nurtured by experienced pearl farmers. Their beauty comes not from perfection, but from the unique journey each pearl undertakes over many years.
The vibrant hues of New Zealand pāua pearls complement the soft lustre of Australian Akoya and South Sea pearls, creating a visual harmony rarely seen in traditional pearl jewellery.
Each pearl is unique, with its own natural characteristics and story. Every pearl necklace is accompanied by an authenticity certificate, creating a piece of pearl jewellery designed to last a lifetime and be passed down through generations.
Pāua pearl in its shell
Akoya pearl in its shell
A New Chapter in Pearl Jewellery
The collaboration between Arapawa Blue Pearls and Pearls of Australia demonstrates how innovation can honour tradition.
By bringing together New Zealand pāua pearls, Australian Akoya pearls from Broken Bay Pearl Farm, and Australian South Sea mabe pearls from Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm, these exclusive designs redefine what modern pearl jewellery can be.
More than beautiful accessories, this pearl necklace collection is wearable stories of two families, two oceans, and generations dedicated to cultivating some of the world's most extraordinary pearls.
Discover the collection here
