A brief history of lockets

Lockets, in one form or another have been around for centuries. Used to carry powder or poisions, keepsakes, good luck charms, hair, ashes, and most recently pictures.

Through the years, lockets have been made in many metals, such as: brass, copper, aluminum, iron, sterling gold and platinum. There are some lockets that were made of copper and plated with sterling or "german silver". There is a company still making them today using antique molds. click here to an example

The Victorian’s loved lockets. As mechanical techniques improved around the turn of the 20th century, the locket was mass manufactured for costume jewelry. Many of the Victorian lockets were set with seed pearls, and gem stones in bright colors and sometimes diamonds with old miner's cuts.
Round and heart shaped lockets were probably the most popular at the time, with many of them being monogrammed with the owners initials. Repousee was popular as a metal forming techinque, as seen in the locket at right. It results in a highly embossed finish and is quite beautiful.

These days, with modern manufacturing capabilities lockets are made with more exacting standards and overall quality has improved. But we mustn’t forget that the locket is a piece of jewelry, and it is essentially difficutl to make, because it is small and the metals are soft (relatively speaking) It is not a filing cabinet or box.