French Empire Collar Necklace

$295.00 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Art jewelry makes a unique gift for her. This dazzling necklace nods to an elaborate parure (matching jewelry set) in The Met's European Sculpture and Decorative Arts holdings. The Museum's astounding 15-piece collection, made in France around 1810, boasts cut-steel studs that mimic faceted diamonds. Cut steel was fashionable in 18th- and 19th-century jewelry—similar examples were acquired by King Louis XVIII, and Napoleon, for his wife Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria. Somewhat surprisingly, the material…