Beauty queen withdraws Mikimoto crown from auction, gallery confirms
MANILA, Philippines — Miss International 1970 Aurora Pijuan has pulled out her Mikimoto tiara from a recent auction in Makati, Lisa Guerrero-Nakpil of Leon Gallery confirmed.
According to an ABS-CBN News report, Guerrero-Nakpil affirmed that Pijuan, the second Filipina to win as Miss International after Gemma Cruz-Araneta, withdrew her crown for “personal reasons.”
Early this month, Pijuan told ABS-CBN that she put her crown up for auction to donate the proceeds to the 22 Filipino fishermen who made headlines after their boat was rammed by a Chinese vessel in the West Philippine Sea.
"I'm going to give the proceeds to them in the hopes that this gift to me, really, a gift to our nation when I won the title in 1970, will have real value and significance today," Aurora said.
The 14-karat-gold, pearl-studded crown was hand-crafted by Tokyo-based jewelry company, Mikimoto, the same company that made the tiara of reigning Miss Universe, Catriona Gray, also from the Philippines.
The crown was supposed to be part of Makati City-based art gallery León Gallery’s July 20 to 21 auction, with a P60,000 starting bid.
