This beautiful antique 9ct gold sweetheart locket is engraved on both side with swallows and roses which were popular jewellery motifs of the romantic Victorian era. The swallow mates for life and symbolised faithfulness and eternity with the rose the universal flower of love.
The locket is stamped '9ct back & front'. Hallmarked 'gold back & front' lockets are typical of English gold lockets from this era and they are at least 95% solid gold, sometimes the hinges and frames inside are made of a sturdier base metal that has been gold plated to add strength to lockets that were made from thin gauge gold.
The locket opens from the side and has one picture ring still in place. It has a fixed bale on the top that is also 9ct gold. The locket was obviously treasured and withstood decades of wear and we have priced this piece accordingly. Please refer to the close up photos.
There is a hairline crack and tiny hole worn through the gold on one side and the bale has worn thin at the top and bottom. The hinge is in perfect shape and the locket still snaps tightly closed with a satisfying click so we think that the wear to the gold has been caused by constant rubbing, perhaps by fingers absentmindedly stroking it, rather than it being frequently opened and closed.
It is still a charming and classic Victorian sweetheart locket, well loved and deserves to be treasured again. As it stands it is fine for occasional careful use but we wouldn't recommend constant wear unless you have the hairline crack stabilised and possibly the bale strengthened.
MATERIALS: 9ct yellow gold
MEASUREMENTS: 1-1/2" (3.5cm) including bale, 1" wide (2.3cm), 4.5mm deep
DATE: circa 1860, Victorian
WEIGHT: 3 grams
HALLMARKS: stamped '9CT BACK & FRONT'
CONDITION: In fairly good antique condition but as we have mentioned it has been treasured and well worn with surface wear to the gold. PLEASE SEE PHOTOS. Opens and closes without issue. Chain not included.
At Mercy Madge we offer a carefully curated collection of antique and vintage jewellery. Each piece is hand selected with you in mind and we rarely come across two identical old treasures, once they are gone, they are truly gone!
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- FREE DELIVERY on all orders worldwide. All orders are despatched next business day and sent with full tracking.
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- Unless otherwise stated any antique boxes in our photos are for display only and are not included in purchase. However, do rest assured all pieces will arrive gift wrapped in our Mercy Madge custom made jewellery boxes.
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