For Paris Miki Philippines, better eyesight is worth more than an expensive pair of glasses—although that’s not stopping them from offering the latter.
A pair of eyeglasses from the Cartier Precious Collection will set you back over P2 million. Its staggering price lies in its materials, manner of construction, and rarity: made with solid 18-carat gold and 66 diamonds, it demands the painstaking work of dedicated artisans who finish it in around six months to a year.
In the Philippines, only eight pairs from the collection have been recently made and are now available to the public through the Paris Miki Philippines flagship store at S’Maison. Tokusen Aoki, their operations director (and fondly called by his team as “Mr. T”), notes that the collection’s presence in the country speaks volumes about the Philippines.
“Instead of simply bringing in brands that we ‘think’ might work in a particular market, we listen and respond to their demands,” he says. Suffice to say, there is a Filipino somewhere in the country that’s actually willing to shell out millions for a pair of glasses.
But the operations director has other observations.
“I’ve seen that many Filipinos love to travel, explore, and learn more about what’s going on in fashion and culture globally. More importantly, when it comes to their purchases, they care a great deal about quality,” he notes. Therefore, Paris Miki didn’t come in blind when they decided to carry the Cartier pieces in the Philippines.
It’s a market outlook that Mr. T sharpened while running the Japanese optical brand in the Philippines in the past eight years. And it all began with a vision spurred by an eye-opening experience.
Eleven years ago, Mr. T was doing market research on the Philippines when Typhoon Haiyan struck the islands. Worried about the crisis and the welfare of his Filipino acquaintances, he hopped on a plane bound for Cebu, where ferries carrying rescue missions and humanitarian aid en route to Tacloban were waiting.
Working with volunteers and doctors from the Department of Health (DOH), Mr. T admitted that the work on the ground was quite harrowing, but fulfilling and even inspiring, nonetheless. “Every day was quite emotional, but I was amazed by how the people were still smiling amid the disaster. I distinctly remember one family we helped that still offered us food, even if I knew their resources were scarce.”
The medical mission and his conversations with the local doctors inspired Mr. T to provide better eye care solutions to the Philippines. He returned to Japan with a proposal for Paris Miki’s overseas expansion, which the parent company eventually approved. Paris Miki Philippines inaugurated its first branch at S’Maison in 2016, followed by a second branch in 2018 at the Podium Mall in Ortigas. And most recently, they launched their third branch at Mitsukoshi Mall at Bonifacio Global City in 2023, along with a complete eye care clinic.
Mr. T himself claims that Paris Miki Philippines’ flagship store at S’Maison rivals—exceeds, even—the 600-plus optical stores the Japanese brand has in its motherland.
“No other Paris Miki store in Japan has the kind of collection that we have here in the flagship store,” he declares, pointing at the racks decked with high-end brands like Chrome Hearts, DITA, and Lindberg, among others. Like with the Cartier Precious Eyewear Collection, these brands only figured into their stores because the demand for better eyewear continues to grow in the Philippines.
But Paris Miki, Mr. T stresses, isn’t only after making that lucrative sale. “We always tell our customers to address the issues that they may have with their eyes before offering prescription eyewear. Problems with vision can be internal, so we make sure that we get to investigate that first,” he affirms.
As such, the brand’s optometrists run extensive tests that can run from around forty minutes to an hour. And that’s why they’re keen to expand even more on the optical care side of the business—of course, alongside offering pairs that can be considered investment pieces.
For Paris Miki Philippines and Mr. T, the message is quite clear: good eyewear may be costly, but better vision is priceless.