The Harvest Hoop

Look closely and the band gives itself away as Art Nouveau: opals, worn thin at the back where a hand has turned it for a century, held by chased naturalistic goldwork. 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 a Viennese collection, 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.