The Ageless Charm of a Locket Necklace

Humans have long had a love of self-decoration in the form of tattoos, body paint, and jewelry. In fact, the earliest known jewelry consists of necklaces and bracelets made of bone, shells, and teeth. Necklaces and bracelets fashioned from flowers have been found in some ancient graves. The people who made the first jewelry were the Cro-Magnon, who lived primarily in Europe from 40,000 to 10,000 years ago. They are the same people who made stunning paintings on the walls of caves, the most famous of which are those in France. They also carved beautiful small figures out of ivory, stone and bone. It is possible that people who predated them also made jewelry but that is questionable. What we do know is that our love of personal adornment certainly dates at least from that period. In these modern times, we love all kinds of jewelry made of a variety of materials but one piece of jewelry that particularly has great sentimental value for people is a locket necklace.

Today’s lockets usually hold simple items like photographs of loved ones. Lockets predating photography frequently held miniatures (small paintings) of people important to the wearer. However, in earlier times they had purposes that are more utilitarian. Lockets held everything from charms to protect the owner from evil, poison in case an enemy had to be dispatched, and herbs and medicine. Today lockets are usually worn on a chain as a pendant. However, in the past, rings sometimes were decorated with lockets. They are said to have frequently held poison that could be surreptitiously dropped into an enemy’s drink. They were also a very important item of Victorian mourning jewelry and often contained a lock of hair of a deceased loved one.

While they are available in many shapes such as oval, square, and round, a heart locket necklace is probably the shape most associated with lockets. They are available in numerous materials but most good quality ones are different kinds of gold, sterling silver, or platinum. They may be engraved with designs like flowers or geometric patterns, or embellished with pearls, diamonds and other gemstones. The styles are as varied as the people who make them.

A gold locket necklace is the style most people associate with this kind of jewelry. They may be plain gold or engraved with monograms or any design wanted. There are also several kinds of gold such as yellow gold, pink gold, white gold, Black Hills gold etc. The buyer is assured of finding exactly the right precious metal for that special pendant.

A locket necklace is available at thousands of retailers throughout the country and overseas. You can make your selection online and have it shipped to you. On the other hand, an alternative is to shop at a walk-in retail store instead. It is good to be able to examine the necklace locket in person. In that way, you can judge the quality more easily. Open the locket. Is the hinge strong enough to keep it closed but still easy to open? How large is the photo area? Is it large enough to show what you want to display? Check the embellishment and make certain it is done beautifully and evenly.  Do you intend to have a personal message engraved on the pendant? If so, you will have the opportunity to make certain it is correct before you accept it from the store. If you are giving it away, the piece is certain to be a gift that will be appreciated and loved. It may end up as an heirloom passed from mother to child and loved equally for generations.

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