The contents are immediately recognizable as jewelry, and your heart leaps up. The glint of metal is silver. Or is it? You spot something that might be gold and another metal, lustrous and dark, glowing from within. One might imagine sapphires, rubies, and emeralds; sparkling as if in a pirate’s tale, but not here. Your secret hoard contains colorful tableaus of swirled minerals set in dark metal, as if precious paintings rendered in stone whose value was determined by metrics other than carats or clarity. Larger pieces that might have been bracelets or arm bands feature detailed weaving in patterns that look to come from a complex tradition. There are a series of vessels in the box, hung from chains as if to be worn around the neck. They suggest a genie may appear, but none does. The longer you look at the collection, the more perplexed you are as to its origins. The items are in almost perfect condition, although some bear the light scuff marks of wearers long gone. The embellishment speaks not of any known culture or tradition, but an amalgam of curious craft traditions and mathematical themes that suggest a people about which you know nothing nor can make extrapolations about. It is neither modern nor ancient, eastern or western. Each relic you take from the box feels as though it might house the talisman of a great love story or a great curse. You could spend hours examining the striking details and puzzling motifs, but the elation of your find slips a little like a cloud crossing in front of the sun. You check to make sure that you are still alone.