Aussie Director Baz Luhrmann wears boab pendant gifted by Kimberley Fine Diamonds at 2024 Met Gala

With Aussie stars dazzling at the 2024 Met Gala in New York City, it was a sparkling boab pendant snapped on the red carpet that caught the eye of Kununurra-based jeweller Frauke Bolten-Boshammer.

Establishing Kimberley Fine Diamonds in 1991, the German immigrant gifted Aussie filmmaker Baz Luhrmann a $2000 gold and diamond necklace as a keepsake to mark the director’s experience shooting his 2008 adventure drama Australia.

Inspired by the gala’s 2024 theme The Garden of Time, Luhrmann finished his striking emerald-green number with the timeless piece.

“We just wanted him to have something from us,” Ms Bolten-Boshammer said.

Based more than 3000km from Perth in the remote outback, the jeweller found herself in the dead centre of a flashy film set when show business came to town.

Or as she puts it, “Hollywood here in little Kununurra”.

But Ms Bolten-Boshammer shared much more than a location with the Oscar-winning director.

“He stayed in our house for six weeks,” she revealed, offering to vacate her residence for a temporary stay with her son.

“He said how nice my bed is. And I’m sure he liked the house!”

Accompanied by his revered wife during production — Aussie costume and set designer Catherine Martin — the jeweller suggested her large family home wasn’t big enough for the two of them.

“Catherine stayed a few houses down because Baz needed time and space,” she recalled, with the silver-haired visionary joined only by his butler.

Masterminds behind classics Moulin Rouge, Romeo + Juliet, and Strictly Ballroom, the filmmakers attracted a raft of famous faces to the dusty dwelling.

Or more excitingly, to Ms Bolten-Boshammer’s jewellery store.

“We had Nicole (Kidman) and her husband (Keith Urban) come in, she bought for her mum and manager,” she said.

But while some stars embraced the region’s rugged planes from the confines of the remote diamond workshop, others felt compelled to get their hands dirty.

“My son took Hugh Jackman and his trainer or bodyguard down the river,” the jeweller said. “They were trying to catch crocodiles.”

With Luhrmann’s endeavours etched in the heart and mind of the Kununurra local, Ms Bolten-Boshammer said she was “proud” to learn her old friend still carried the region’s charm with him all these years later.

While the exact pendant worn by Luhrmann is no longer for sale, the North-East WA jeweller offers similar designs paying tribute to the native tree.

Dubbed Australia’s “most remote diamond house”, Kimberley Fine Diamonds boasts a collection of fine jewellery including rare Argyle Pink Diamonds, Australian gold and Broome pearls.