Taking The Miki

I spotted this Yaguruma sash clip on a recent trip to Basel and was struck by two things: the story and the workmanship.

First shown by Mikimoto at the 1937 World Exposition in Paris, the multifunctional piece of jewellery comprises 11 parts which can be assembled to create no fewer than 12 forms of adornment.

Yaguruma went AWOL after the expo and only re-surfaced in 1989 when it was bought by the Mikimoto Pearl Island Co. at an auction in New York. Today it lives in the Pearl Museum on Mikimoto Pearl Island.