Sterling Silver Lockets

Lockets have been popular for centuries and they continue to be popular today. They originally were used to carry medicines and poisons. By the Victorian era, they were used primarily to hold small personal keepsakes such as locks of hair or the ashes of someone who had died. It was in this time that lockets were also first used to hold miniature portrait paintings, which was the forerunner of the modern practice of using a locket to hold a photograph.

In its basic form, a locket is a pendant that opens to reveal a space used to hold some sort of memento, usually a photograph. They are most often presented as gifts to a loved one on a holiday such as Valentine's Day, or on special occasions such as Christenings or weddings. In the Victorian era, they were often given at funerals.

The most popular form is the heart locket, but other forms such as boxes and ovals are also quite common and many jewelers have experimented with non-traditional shapes throughout the long history of lockets as favorite items of jewelery.

The Victorian Age (1837-1901) is considered by many to be the "golden age" of lockets. Curiously, at that time, they were most often given at funerals and were used to store a lock of hair or the burned ashes of the deceased. Antique lockets are always highly prized by collectors. Condition is always a prime concern qith older lockets and the hinge assembly should be carefully examined for damage and/or repairs.

Modern manufacturing methods have made high quality lockets affordable for everyone and even a modestly priced modern locket will often be of better quality than an antique locket, so as always, "Let the Buyer Beware."

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Gold Lockets

Lockets have been around for centuries, becoming very popular during the Victorian Era. Lockets of that time period were used to hold small painted pictures and locks of hair. The lockets were not only worn as a pendent around the neck, but on bracelets and on other pieces jewelry as well.

Most lockets today are made of sterling silver, 14K yellow gold, 14K white gold, or 18k yellow gold. It is also common to see lockets that are gold filled. Gold filled lockets are usually priced similar to sterling silver lockets, but must, by law, have one layer of at least 10K gold that makes up at least 5% of the total weight of the locket.

Free Collector's Guide

To bid on any item below, simply click on the blue link next to the item. If you are new to online auctions, you can see my New to Auctions page for more information, including a very nice free video tutorial.