Mikimoto honors modern milestone with ‘Love Letter to the Sea’

February 15, 2023

The otherworldly shots bring a feeling of eternity to this ode to the sea from Mikimoto. Image credit: Mikimoto

Japanese jeweler Mikimoto is celebrating 130 years of cultured pearls in a new short film series.

Founder Kokichi Mikimoto created the first cultured pearls in the world, and this valuable heritage is woven throughout the film scenes. Historic fashion, sweeping ocean shots and abstract visuals come together to communicate both a love for the sea and a pride in brand history.

Into the depths
The company was the first jeweler to the culture pearls, working with the sea to bring forth the jewels.

This partnership is centered in the “Love Letter to the Sea” six-part series. Creative director Asako Aeba brings together lens flares, artistic pearl imagery, underwater footage and slow-motion movements to communicate the interconnection between Mikimoto and the ocean.

A Love Letter to the Sea, Chapter 1 - 出会い

In each short film, figures are shown splashing in the beach-side seafoam, walking gently with the wind and swimming in the depths of the ocean. The people throughout are tethered to the sea, either through being submerged in it or staying close to the waves on the land.

Pearl culturing is a natural process in the jeweler world, turning to the elements of the earth for co-creation. This sets pearls apart in the world of precious stones.

Other stones have to be mined, which devastates the land and local communities due to the invasive nature of it. Some stones can be grown in a lab, completely isolated from the natural world.

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Pearls are created by the sea and those that call the habitat home. Collecting sediment and elemental debris, pearls come from the swirling riptides and sand-- a symbol of earth-made creation.

To participate in that process is to partner with the ocean, and Mikimoto has been doing just that for 130 years. It is this deep history that is alluded to throughout the films.

People in traditional clothing frolic beside the splashing shore, donning natural pearls on their fingers and necks. Japanese architecture is featured, sitting stoically over the water.

Mikimoto ties its history to an appreciation of the sea through the six films. Image credit: Mikimoto

The heritage of the brand is explored through these images, with ethereal music playing over lapping waves.

The film series is meditative, reflecting on the journey the brand has been on since the 1890s. Soft light, lunar eclipses, glitter, fluttering eyelashes, flowing fabrics and twinkling tides communicate a message of beauty and otherworldliness– something fitting for a series celebrating a creation of the oceanic world below.

Humans and the world of the ocean are braided together in the films, showing an intimacy between the pearl community and the source. Image credit: Mikimoto

This seaside setting throughout acts as the foundation of this anniversary celebration, linking Mikimoto's company history to a love of the sea.

Ethereal earth
Luxury is exploring the ways in which the earth can bring a feeling of sanctity to visuals.

Italian fashion label Missoni recently released an advertising campaign that centered the Spanish coastline (see story). Flowing fabrics, wave-like patterns and sun-inspired hues were all used in the pieces, complimenting the land around them.

Stella McCartney also looks to the earth, using botanical prints and natural colors to bring the wild to fashion (see story). The newest collection has a feeling of eternity to it, as the prints and cuts all point to timelessness in the natural world.

Using people as a channel in which to communicate a link between art and nature, many brands are exploring ethereal land narratives. Image credit: Mikimoto

Mikimoto brings this timelessness to the “Love Letter to the Sea” campaign, as the brand is both honoring its ground-breaking history and thanking the ocean for making it all possible. The result is a reverent view of the biome and an artistic look at the pearl-making process– from sea to shop.

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Mikimoto honors modern milestone with ‘Love Letter to the Sea’

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