Aurora Pendants

These cluster studs are 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. The detail is built up bead by bead, a technique half-lost by the time this was made. We bought it from a house in the Loire, with the original receipt still tucked inside the lid. You can tell it was worn, not kept — the highest thing we can say of a piece.