On Worth Avenue, Nothing That Glitters Is Accidental

Call it luck if that's the simpler story. But the finish on some of fine jewelry's most recognized pieces traces back four centuries, to a goldsmithing technique built on tiny bubbles worked into the gold's surface and a fine dust of gold laid over it. It is not a shortcut and never was — it is hand work, repeated until it looks effortless. For anyone pausing at a case this week, that is the difference worth knowing before the difference in price.

With reporting from Town & Country.