Newbie visit to Mikimoto

[Missie1]

Hi Ladies,

@yssie Let me begin buy saying that I’m now in awe of pearl jewelry creations. I visited Mikimoto in NYCover the weekend and was definitely wowed. Per advice from other forum we requested to see all levels of strands in the classic 9 mm size. To be honest I loved the diamond and pearl creations the most but was unsure how one even cares for that. Back to the pearls. I felt underwhelmed by the standard entry level A quality pearls. They just didn’t move me for the price I was expecting much more. Now their top of the line pearl was everything I expected from the iridescence to the sheen ……they just glowed. These were magical however that magic came with a astronomical price tag for pearls…. 60k….

 

[yssie]

Yesssssss I’ve been waiting for this thread

Welcome, check your wallet at the door…

 

[Missie1]

Yesssssss I’ve been waiting for this thread

Welcome, check your wallet at the door…

OMG it was lady in there who’s DH had restricted her spend and her card declined. She was going off on him in that room off to the side. She then says to sa he’s taken care of it. Rerun the card. I’m like what is she getting…let me get out of here if DH are restricting spend when we ladies go there

 

[yssie]

The A/A+ strands - 100% agree. And I add AA into that category too, personally.

I figure if you’re buying a strand or a bracelet or a pair of studs then the #Reason you’re at Mikimoto is for the pearls themselves. Not the design of the piece. Cause there is no design. Y’know? Well, we can argue about the clasp. But for *me* the #Reason I’m at Mikimoto for a strand or a bracelet or a pair of studs is for the pearls, first and foremost!

And if I’m paying the Mikimoto premium for pearls then I want pearls that are unique to Mikimoto!! A, A+, AA pearls - they’re not special. You can get them elsewhere. Might take a bit of legwork but you can definitely get that same quality elsewhere. Buying that quality from Mikimoto doesn’t get you anything uniquely Mikimoto. But AAA/Reserve pearls… (Miki calls them AAA in studs and Reserve in strands in the US, and Best of the Best in Asia, who knows why)… Those are special. Uniquely Mikimoto. To me those are worth the Mikimoto premium ‘cause good luck finding those pearls somewhere else! I mean, okay, you can probably find that quality outside Miki - but you’ll probably be waiting a while and you’ll *definitely* need luck on your side.

That’s my philosophy, anyway. I know that on the other forum people are quicker to recommend A or A+ from Mikimoto. I think that’s for three reasons:
1. They don’t see the difference so the quality upgrade doesn’t matter. Sadly for you obviously that’s not your case
2. They’re typically much more brand-sensitive than PSers
3. They’re not eager to do that extra legwork to find similar quality without the Miki pricetag - ease of purchase trumps potential dollar savings.…

For the actual designs - the collections with pave, etc. - there, for me, the design is uniquely Mikimoto so using lower quality pearls doesn’t bother me. In those cases I’m paying for the Mikimoto design more than I’m paying for a specific quality of pearl. Miki uses A+ akoya by default but you can upgrade the pearls if you want - for a fee of course

@yssie Let me begin buy saying that I’m now in awe of pearl jewelry creations. I visited Mikimoto in NYCover the weekend and was definitely wowed. Per advice from other forum we requested to see all levels of strands in the classic 9 mm size. To be honest I loved the diamond and pearl creations the most but was unsure how one even cares for that. Back to the pearls. I felt underwhelmed by the standard entry level A quality pearls. They just didn’t move me for the price I was expecting much more. Now their top of the line pearl was everything I expected from the iridescence to the sheen ……they just glowed. These were magical however that magic came with a astronomical price tag for pearls…. 60k….

 

[yssie]

OMG it was lady in there who’s DH had restricted her spend and her card declined. She was going off on him in that room off to the side. She then says to sa he’s taken care of it. Rerun the card. I’m like what is she getting…let me get out of here if DH are restricting spend when we ladies go there

I think I wouldn’t have been able to stop myself from laughing out loud

 

[Missie1]

I think I wouldn’t have been able to stop myself from laughing out loud

I said to my sissy their house is definitely not in order

 

[katbran]

Poor guy might not have known what he was getting into when he walked through the Miki doors lol