The Florentine Spray

Look closely and the spray brooch gives itself away as Victorian: amethysts, holding a steady violet even in shade, held by hand-chased repoussé. It is finished on the inside as carefully as on the face, where no one would ever look. A dealer we trust brought it down from an Amsterdam family, kept in a bank drawer far longer than it was ever worn. It is the kind of thing you buy once and never think to replace.