Close to the Heart

Victorian Locket with Rock Crystals & Amethysts in Gold, British, c. 1865


€ 1,690.00 *
Content 1 piece
Incl. VAT, Shipping
Victorian Locket with Rock Crystals & Amethysts in Gold, British, c. 1865
Victorian Locket with Rock Crystals & Amethysts in Gold, British, c. 1865
Description
This description was automatically translated from German. If you have any questions about this piece of jewellery, we will be happy to help!
Lockets were one of the dominant jewellery fashions of the 1860s and 1870s: Alongside long earrings, sentimentally charged rings, and jewellery inspired by the Renaissance or Roman times, a locket was an absolute must-have in any well-stocked jewellery box. Accordingly, they were crafted in every conceivable variation. Here we have a particularly unusual piece, for this locket does not hide its treasure between two opaque gold covers—it turns the treasure itself into a jewel. A photograph, a lock of hair, or a dried flower can be inserted between two lids made of gold-set rock crystals cut into cabochons. Due to the strongly convex curvature of the upper lid, the keepsake appears magnified and almost three-dimensional. All around is a outward-facing wreath of tall amethyst cabochons—a decorative motif frequently found in British jewellery of the 1860s, presumably inspired by the bossed centers of medieval round shields. The piece of jewellery was not hallmarked until it was imported to Moscow between 1908 and 1927. Stylistically, however, it appears to be a British piece from the 1860s. An X-ray analysis of the gold content confirms this: it has a higher gold content than the 56 zolotniki (14 karats) typical of Russia and hallmarked here, namely the typically British gold content of 15 karats.
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Size & Details
Victorian Locket with Rock Crystals & Amethysts in Gold, British, c. 1865
Close to the Heart
€ 1,690.00 *
Content 1 piece
Incl. VAT, Shipping
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Our Promise
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