Antique Victorian HEART Hand Etched Yellow Gold Filled Puffy Heart Charm Locket

This antique Victorian locket features a timeless motif. With its heart shape perfectly complementing the finely crafted gold filled setting, hand-etched detailing commands attention while drawing your eye toward the focal point. A blank cartouche, ready for a new owner's initials, steals the show and protects your treasured memories hidden within the roomy cache of the locket. A perfect addition to your favorite chain or charm bracelet, this classic piece will surely be a lifelong favorite.

Bright patina with minimal surface wear. The original frame holds your photo tightly in place without glass or plastic inserts. Closes firmly with a satisfying snap. The heart symbol holds a captivating history within the realm of jewelry.

The heart motif has been a powerful emblem of love, affection, and sentimentality for centuries. In ancient times, the heart shape was associated with a person's spiritual and emotional essence. It became a popular symbol of devotion and courtly love during the Middle Ages. In the Victorian era, sentimental jewelry, including lockets and pendants, often featured intricate heart designs, serving as a token of love and remembrance.

The heart symbol continued to evolve throughout the Art Nouveau and Art Deco periods, with designers exploring new interpretations and incorporating innovative materials. A young Queen Victoria assumed her role in 1837 and her taste in jewelry quickly became culturally influential, within England and beyond.

Her relationship to jewelry was enmeshed with her husband, Prince Albert, who gifted the Queen for their engagement, a snake ring, embedded with an emerald (her birthstone) in its head. Continuing from the Georgian era and intensified by Queen Victoria's taste, sentimental and figural jewelry was a major trend throughout the Victorian era. When certain ideas and words were deemed too forward or improper to be spoken, jewelry and symbolic meaning was used to communicate what was left unsaid. _gsrx_vers_1608 GS 9.5 (1608).