Marilyn might have sang that diamonds are a girl's best friend, but I've always been a pushover for pearls.I'm especially partial to Mikimoto, the brand that is to pearls what Tiffany is to diamonds. Iconic. Classic. Overpriced.
In spite of the inflated price tag, I've had a yen to own a strand of Mikimotos ever since I first laid eyes on them on our first trip to Japan more than 20 years ago. But, alas, the closest I come to Mikimoto is their weekly ad in the New York Times Sunday Styles section.
With this in mind, I don't quite get why I found Sunday's ad (see below) a turnoff. How could I find fault with Mikimoto's "pearl of wisdom" ad copy, "Everything is possible with hope"? (Well, not to get picky, but is that really true? City of Hope's slogan, "There is always hope" is more accurate.)
And what could be more generous than Mikimoto donating 20% of the overpriced bracelet's $980 price tag to "fund the fight against breast cancer"? (Well, technically, the money is going to support the Young Survival Coalition, an excellent nonprofit dedicated to "action, advocacy and awareness," not research as the ad implies.)
Perhaps it's the pink thread that rubs me the wrong way. Call me old fashioned, but I think the thread used to individually knot pearls should be a subtle functional element, not a tacky design element.
Or maybe it's the yellow gold clasp and ribbon charm that's getting my goat. Mikimoto, like Tiffany, has always been partial to the understated elegance of white gold or platinum, and the yellow gold seems just a bit gaudy.
But I think the thing that really bugs me about the bracelet is its crass combination of conspicuous consumerism with conspicuous causes, or as Mikimoto puts it, "a luxe take on the cause."
What's next? Driving for the cause with a pink Cadillac embellished with ribbons? Vamping for the cause in pink Jimmy Choos?
Why does all of this make me a little blue instead of tickled pink? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this issue.
Click on ad below to enlarge.
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