The value of authentic Australian pearls is set to be boosted by a pioneering digital tracking system.
In a world-first, Australian Farmer of the Year James Brown is trialling the use of blockchain technology to document and track pearls produced at his company's farms in WA and NSW.
He said the technology was already being used in the diamond trade to maintain a fail-safe database of high-value gems.
"Source of origin is so important, and this allows us to record it in a permanent way," Mr Brown said.
"When a consumer purchases a pearl that's recorded on the blockchain, they've got all the details of when it was fished, the technician that seeded it, when it was harvested; all of that is captured.
"And then you can start to add in information about all of those invisible values such as the sustainability of the product, which is important."
The Australian digital technology company Everledger is creating the blockchain system, which will include South Sea Pearls from the company's Cygnet Bay farm in the Kimberley, and Akoya pearls from its Broken Bay farm near Sydney.
Influx of inferior pearls taking a toll
The system does not require any physical addition to the pearl.
Instead, its dimensions and characteristics are recorded in minute detail, to ensure that no substitution can occur.
Currently, there is little way of knowing the origin of pearls purchased at jewellery stores as the wholesale market, based in Hong Kong, mixes together pearls from different farms and locations.
The result is that the value of Australian South Sea pearls — produced by Pinctada Maxima oysters — has been diluted by inferior products imported from overseas.
Mr Brown said the high-tech trial would help restore the value of pearls farmed in northern waters.
"Sadly, a lot of the pearls that go through global wholesale markets these days are also chemically treated," he said.
"Now, that might not be ultimately a terrible thing, if consumers are happy for that to be the case, but right now there's no way of differentiating.
Consumers keen for tracing
Veteran Australian jeweller Michael Neuman has welcomed the provenance project.
His family-run store in Sydney traditionally focused on pink diamonds from the recently closed Argyle Diamond Mine in the East Kimberley, but had started retailing pearls from the blockchain trial sites.
Mr Neuman said consumers were increasingly interested in the 'origin story' of the gemstones they purchased.
"To a growing number of people, particularly the younger generation, they are much more interested in how things are produced and where they came from," he said.
"I think with any new technology as such blockchain there is an additional cost and labour and work involved.
The Australian pearling industry has shrunk dramatically over the past 15 years, with the number of independent pearl producers in the Kimberley reducing from 16 to 3 after the global financial crisis.
