Locket Jewelry
Locket
A locket is a pendant that opens to reveal a space used for storing a photograph or other small item such as a curl of hair. Lockets are usually given to loved ones on holidays such as Valentine’s Day and occasions such as Christenings, weddings and, most noticeably during the Victorian Age, funerals.
Lockets are generally worn on chains around the neck and often hold a photo of the person who gave the locket, or they could form part of a charm bracelet. They come in many shapes such as ovals, hearts and circles and are usually made of precious metals such as gold and silver befitting their status as decorative jewellery. Lockets have been around for hundreds of years and during all that time they have been used for many different things.
In times past a locket was used to carry around small things that had some value to the wearer. Medicine could be kept inside them as well as poison. Ancient times could be very dangerous to live in and the act of poisoning someone who was a threat to you was often a means of disposing of them.
And more about it, lockets were also used by those who held certain beliefs in herbs and like charms to ward off evil and sickness. The hair or ashes of loved ones was often kept inside a locket as one of many items kept as a keepsake.
The Victorian era was an extremely popular time for the locket. They used the locket for a jewelry piece as much as for their storage capacity. The heart locket was very fashionable. These lockets were made in some very elegant ways. Monogramming a locket was one way to personalize the piece even more. They could be set with gemstones or pearls and the finest metals were used for making them. Although in the past lockets had been made from all sorts of metals such as copper, brass, platinum and silver amongst others.
Another kind of locket is/was made in a filigree style with a small cushion in the centre to which a few drops of perfume should be added, perfume lockets were popular in eras when personal hygiene was restricted and sweet smelling perfume was used to mask the odour of a person or their companions.
Very rare World War I- and II-era British and American military uniform locket buttons exist, containing miniature working compasses.
Lockets are still widely available today and can be bought in many styles. The techniques used for making lockets have improved over time, but they are still delicate, which really only adds to their beauty. They still make as lovely a gift for someone you love as anything you could give them in the way of jewelry.