Aurora Wreath

This bow brooch is Art Nouveau through and through — opals, worn thin at the back where a hand has turned it for a century, set in chased naturalistic goldwork. It is finished on the inside as carefully as on the face, where no one would ever look. We bought it from an estate in the Douro, with the original receipt still tucked inside the lid. It is the kind of thing you buy once and never think to replace.