One of many sea animal pieces in Mikimoto’s new high jewelry collection, “Praise to the Sea,” this blue whale necklace is a dynamic expression of a parent and child blue whale swimming closely together. The 41.54-carat tourmaline symbolizes the aura of the creature, which schools of gemstone fish are depicted swimming around them. The necklace, set in 18k white gold, includes sapphire, aquamarine, garnet and diamonds.
New York—Mikimoto’s latest high jewelry collection pays homage to the brand’s origin.
“Praise to the Sea” was announced earlier this month during Paris Haute Couture Week at the Mikimoto Paris Boutique, where numerous pieces from the collection were showcased.
Its unveiling also commemorates the 130th anniversary of Mikimoto founder Kokichi Mikimoto creating the world’s first cultured pearls. The brand released an anniversary collection earlier this year.
Mikimoto said inspiration for Praise to the Sea came from the “majestic waters” of the ocean.
Its designs mimic scenes like light on the water’s surface, the gradation of color from shallow water to the ocean’s depths, and clusters of fish in the open sea.
Drop earrings inspired by the ocean’s color gradation from shallow water to deep sea featuring one white South Sea pearl and one black South Sea pearl, as well as sapphire, aquamarine, tanzanite and diamonds
These earrings inspired by the pattern of the water’s surface are set with Akoya pearls, diamonds, a 3.30-carat and a 5.64-carat aquamarine in 18-karat white gold.
A necklace inspired by the pattern of the water’s surface
The curves created by schools of fish elegantly navigating the sea inspired a necklace featuring Akoya cultured pearls along with a variety of gemstones including diamond, beryl, tanzanite, tourmaline, amethyst, garnet, sapphire, spinel, alexandrite and aquamarine.
The corresponding ring and earrings feature white South Sea pearls, with the earrings also displaying a variety of cool-toned colored gems. A designer’s note reveals the sapphire and alexandrite were chosen to depict fish of various colors clustered together while gracefully swimming in circles.
A necklace inspired by schools of fish traversing the open sea featuring Akoya cultured pearl, diamond, beryl, tanzanite, tourmaline, amethyst, garnet, sapphire, spinel, alexandrite, and aquamarine set in 18-karat white gold
Spiral ring inspired by schools of fish featuring white South Sea pearls and exhibiting imagery of the sea and its waves, with the sapphires and diamonds evoking the gradation of the ocean’s depth while the rose-cut diamonds conjure visuals of splashing waves
Earrings inspired by schools of fish featuring white South Sea cultured pearls and various ocean-hued colored gemstones including sapphire and alexandrite to depict the different colors of fish clustered together swimming gracefully in circles
The collection also incorporates imagery from the ocean’s diverse life forms, including colorful sea life and lively creatures.
To express a coral reef stretching across shallow waters, this necklace uses morganite, topaz, garnet, sapphire and diamond to depict schools of fish swimming among sparkling sunlit corals.
Akoya strands and colored gemstones come together in this leafy seadragon necklace that expresses imagery of the rare fish drifting like seaweed.
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A series of playful brooches feature many types of fish and ocean animals using a variety of pearl types and colored gemstones.
The Hermit Crab brooch depicts the creature emerging from its shell, a sizeable natural freshwater pearl surrounded by mixture of blue hues from sapphires, tourmaline, tanzanite and spinel.
The Clownfish and Sea Anemone brooch also features natural freshwater feather pearls, as well as nugget opals for the fish, which are expressed as darting in and out of the tentacles.
Mikimoto Hermit Crab brooch
Mikimoto Clownfish and Sea Anemone brooch
More tentacles are seen in the Amakusa Jellyfish, the Glass Octopus and the Firefly Squid brooches, all of which feature Akoya cultured pearls.
In the jellyfish, colored stones are set underneath a curved quartz to express a bobbing jellyfish.
The octopus features a translucent pearl body with diamond-studded tentacles and sapphire eyes, while the squid is made up of ocean-hued gems, a clear quartz mantle and appears to float in a bubbly sea of surrounding pearls and other precious stones.
Mikimoto Amakusa Jellyfish Brooch
Mikimoto Glass Octopus
Mikimoto Firefly Squid Brooch
The Whale Shark brooch is depicted swimming through the ocean with a remora—a sucker fish that attaches to larger marine animals—attached to it.
Black rhodium encrusted with blue sapphires and diamonds make up the whale’s body and may remind some of a star-filled night sky.
Mikimoto Whale Shark brooch
The Threadfin Butterfly Fish brooch also includes Akoya cultured pearls and, standing out among its white and yellow diamond patterning, a 8.36-carat aqua-colored beryl.
Mikimoto Threadfin Butterfly Fish brooch
Other pearls also were utilized, such as black South Sea cultured pearl and mother-of-pearl seen in the sea urchin brooch, as well as white South Sea pearl used in the Spotted Eagle Ray brooch, designed to invoke the gentle sunlight reflecting from the animal seen when viewing the animal under the water.
Mikimoto Sea Urchin brooch
Mikimoto Spotted Eagle Ray brooch
Other pieces, like the Blue Whale necklace (seen at top of article) and this pair of Branched Murex brooches, feature no pearls at all.
The tanzanite Branched Murex brooch was created with imagery of a secret treasure hidden within the deep sea, the brand said, while the opal piece was inspired by brilliant multicolored shallow waters.
Mikimoto Branched Murex brooch with tanzanite
Mikimoto Branched Murex brooch with opal
More information and pieces from the collection can be found on Mikimoto’s website.
The company said it will begin selling the collection in Japan on Oct. 7.
