Mikimoto Crown

The Phoenix Mikimoto Crown, (Kanji: 御木本不死鳥王冠) also informally known as the Mikimoto Crown, was a pageant crown worn by Miss Universe titleholders.

Phoenix Mikimoto Crown
Details
Made2000 (designed)
2002 (current version)
OwnerMiss Universe Organization
Weight1.06 kg (2.3 lb)
ArchesTwo
MaterialYellow gold
White gold
Notable stonesNatural colorless Diamonds
South Sea pearls
Akoya pearls

The crown was made by the Mikimoto Pearl company in Toba, Mie Prefecture, Japan used by the Miss Universe Organization. Its usage was preceded by a modernised variant design of the traditional Lady Crown used since the 1960s. Among beauty pageant connoisseurs, the crown was regarded as the most elegant of the ten different crowns used by the organization to date.[1]

History
The 54th Miss Universe wearing the crown in 2005 (Press photography)

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The crown was designed by Japanese artisan Tomohiro Yamaji in 2000 and was created with the sponsorship of the Mikimoto Pearl company in 2002 for the commemorative 50th anniversary and as the official jewel sponsor of the Miss Universe Organization. It accompanied a similar diadem which was given to the winner after her reign. It was first unveiled and worn by the 50th Miss Universe at the Fifth Avenue Mikimoto store in New York City by former Miss Universe Organization owner Donald Trump and former brand president, Toyohiko Miyamoto.

The crown was used for the coronations of 2002–2007. Due to inconsistent payments for copyright use by the Czech-based Diamond International Corporation to the Miss Universe Organization, along with the desire to re-establish lost branding prestige, the crown returned in January 2017 (press photography), November 2017 (coronation night) and December 2018 (coronation night).[2][3]

The Mikimoto crown was last used at the 68th Miss Universe pageant, the last time being worn by the 67th Miss Universe for its coronation night.[4]

Description

The Mikimoto crown is made of both yellow and white gold, measuring from three to eighteen millimetres. It has a traditional Asian design based on the seven auspicious feathers of a Fenghuang phoenix using a mandorla flame design derived from traditional Japanese Buddhist iconography. The crown is decorated with diamonds totalling to 18 carats, with 120 naturally white pearls obtained in Japan, both South Sea and Akoya, giving a grand total weight of 29.7 carats. Due to its delicate nature, a security detail was attached to the crown wherever it traveled and insured for $250,000 USD against the risk of loss or damage.

List of Miss Universes who have worn the crown

The following winners are certified by press release or official publication to have worn the Phoenix Mikimoto Crown as designated by the Miss Universe Organization:

Year worn Country / Territory Titleholder
2001  Puerto Rico Denise Quiñones[lower-alpha 1]
2002  Panama Justine Pasek[lower-alpha 2]
 Russia Oxana Fedorova
2003  Dominican Republic Amelia Vega
2004  Australia Jennifer Hawkins
2005  Canada Natalia Glebova
2006  Puerto Rico Zuleyka Rivera
2007  Japan Riyo Mori
2008  Venezuela Dayana Mendoza[lower-alpha 3]
2015  Philippines Pia Wurtzbach[lower-alpha 4]
2017  South Africa Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters[5]
2018  Philippines Catriona Gray

Broken crown incident

In February 2019, during the national homecoming parade of the 67th Miss Universe in Araneta City, Quezon City, Philippines, a feather of the crown fell out.[6][7]

See also

Notes
  1. The Mikimoto Crown was first worn by the 50th Miss Universe, Denise Quiñones in 2001 at its store presentation at the Mikimoto store branch in New York, United States. It was then officially worn at the Intercontinental Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico on 25 May 2002.
  2. Justine Pasek inherited the crown after Oxana Fedorova, Miss Russia, was dethroned after reigning for 3 months.
  3. Dayana Mendoza wore the crown solely for the coronation night of the Miss Universe 2009 and Miss USA pageant.
  4. Pia Wurtzbach wore the crown solely for her final photoshoot as Miss Universe.

References
  1. "Miss Universe Crowns: A Peep into the History". The Great Pageant Community. 23 May 2017.
  2. "Miss Universe 2017: Mikimoto crown makes a comeback". Rappler. 27 November 2017.
  3. "Queen emergency: Catriona Gray breaks Miss Universe crown while dancing". MSN. 20 March 2019. Archived from the original on 2 July 2019.
  4. "LOOK: New Miss Universe 2019 crown unveiled". Rappler. Archived from the original on 9 December 2019. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  5. Lara Tan, CNN Philippines (27 November 2017). "South Africa's Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters crowned Miss Universe 2017". Archived from the original on 2 December 2017. Retrieved 27 November 2017. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  6. The Story Behind The Broken Crown. Miss Universe. 19 Mar 2019 – via YouTube.
  7. The moment one of the pieces from the Mikimoto crown broke off! OMG! Thank Goodness Cat caught it and @swanbirdnyc’s reaction is Priceless. Miss Universe. 19 Mar 2019 – via Instagram.
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