Delicate pansies have charming, face-like flowers, giving them a playful yet pensive mien. That demeanor is reflected in their name, which comes from the French word pensée, meaning “thought.” For generations, they have served as a simple and sweet way to show someone you are thinking of them — or to ask them to hold you in their thoughts.
Shakespeare was a fan of the dainty blooms: In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, they are used in Puck’s love potion, and in Hamlet, Ophelia, in her famous flower-scattering scene, says, “And there is pansies, that’s for thoughts.”
This circa 1960 pansy brooch conveys all of that symbolism, with added passion and vitality. Like a miniature sculpture, its carved opal petals catch the light, flashing iridescent rainbow hues across a pearlescent surface that seems to pulse with fiery energy. Encircled with round diamonds and rising from a platinum stalk set with still more diamonds, the life-size bloom commands attention.
“The gift of a pansy means you are being thought of, remembered or admired,” says Dana Kiyomura, founder of New York–based jeweler Keyamour, which specializes in vintage pieces from the Georgian era to modern times. “I purchased [the brooch] from an estate in the United States, and I date it to around the 1960s or 1970s based on the cut of the diamonds. I believe it was made in the U.S., as it doesn’t have any hallmarks.”
The real mystery of this effulgent bloom, however, lies in the craftsmanship. Making the piece would have required superlative lapidary skills, as opals are notoriously brittle and difficult to carve. Difficult and risky: Legend has it that Louis XI of France was so upset when his goldsmith cracked a royal opal that he ordered the artisan’s hands to be chopped off.
Kiyomura prefers to point to more upbeat historical analogues, comparing the sculptural opal brooch to rare Victorian cameos like those crafted by the famous 19th-century German engraver Wilhelm Schmidt. “Some of the most beautiful cameo carvings were crafted in opals up to 150 years ago. The unique luminescence of the gem adds depth and dimension to the sculpted design in a way that’s very different from, say, an agate cameo carving,” she says.
This same dexterous technique — layering forms to create a light-catching relief — is evident in the petals of this heritage piece, where each delicate curve and contour plays with light and movement, enhancing the stone’s striking radiance.
Slightly smaller than a business card, the gemstone flower is no shrinking violet (although pansies do belong to the Viola genus). Rather, it makes a powerful statement that, according to Kiyomura, deserves to be displayed to full effect. “I’d wear it high on the shoulder or close to the neck,” she says. “And dark colors would really set off the pansy’s subtle play of colors.” Indeed, those flashes of fire deserve a dramatic backdrop worthy of their brilliance.
