High-end jewelry retailer K. Mikimoto & Co. has won a bid to produce a tiara for Princess Kako, who will start wearing it for formal occasions after she turns 20 next year, the Imperial Household Agency said Wednesday.
Mikimoto has been commissioned to make five items, including a necklace, worth about ¥30 million in total to be delivered next March for the 18-year-old daughter of Prince Akishino, the younger son of Emperor Akihito, the agency said.
A female member of the Imperial family is given a tiara when she turns 20, the age of adulthood.
Mikimoto was one of five companies that took part in the bidding process, which was introduced when Princess Yoko, 29, the younger daughter of the late Prince Tomohito of Mikasa, came of age. Previously, select suppliers handled such work exclusively.