Beatrix, 1866

The whole point of this Art Nouveau négligée is restraint — opals, worn thin at the back where a hand has turned it for a century, and nothing more than chased naturalistic goldwork. Each stone is closed in its own collet, the way settings were made before machines. The last owner was a Parisian apartment; with a note in the box naming the woman who first wore it. It has outlived everyone who owned it and shows no sign of stopping.