Preloved Jewels

Beautiful Antique Victorian 9ct Yellow Gold Hair Locket Mourning Brooch

£150 ~ $189

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Creating tomorrow's antiques from yesterday's treasures
Pre-Loved Antique, Vintage and Handmade Jewellery: Necklaces, Bracelets, Rings, Brooches, Earrings and Jewellery Sets
This Shop is rated Gold - 100 or more sales Trusted Gold Seller since 2022
A beautiful antique Victorian 9ct Yellow Gold Hair Locket Mourning Brooch.

To the Victorians, mourning was more about sentimentality than misery. Mourning jewellery was used as a tribute or memento to remind the wearer about their love for the person they had lost. Death was a regular occurrence in Victorian times, thanks to pervasive diseases like cholera and scarlet fever. For this reason, the loss of a loved one was not a shocking event, but a sad part of everyday life.

Popular during this time was hair jewellery. These would either be lockets containing a lock of hair, or jewellery that was itself made from braided or woven hair. This style of jewellery was unique in that it could be made at home. Magazines, such as a Godey’s Lady’s Book, provided detailed instructions on how to prepare and weave hair for use in jewellery or home decor. After the maker wove the hair, it could be sent to a jeweller who would add findings to make it wearable. Human hair was well suited to this practice, because it is resistant to decay. Unfortunately, once mourning jewellery fell out of style after the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, the practice of hair weaving became a lost art. Although this style of jewellery may seem unusual today, to the Victorians, it was the perfect sentimental way to remain close to a loved one.

This wonderful antique Victorian 9ct Yellow Gold Mourning Brooch features a central domed glass panel containing a lock of brown woven hair set into a textured Gold frame. The Brooch has a safety chain and a secure pin with a 'C' style clasp.

It measures 2.4cm x 2.1cm and weighs 4.7g. It is not stamped which is normal for antique jewellery but fully tests as 9ct Gold. The Brooch is in very good antique condition as shown and is very wearable.

We strive to describe and photograph all of our items clearly and truthfully. Unless otherwise stated, our vintage and antique jewellery is not cleaned. This is due to many requests for vintage jewellery to be left in it's original condition. If you have any questions about this item then please don't hesitate to contact me prior to purchase... Thank you.
Item id: 538
Type: Estate, Fine
Color: Gold
Style: Mourning, Victorian
Item type: Antique
Material: Gold, 9K Gold, Yellow Gold