Antique Gold Medallion
An antique gold medallion brings wearable devotion or personal remembrance into daily life through miniature metalwork.
Antique Gold Medallion
Beyond religious medals, the selection includes circular lockets, enamel charms, and decorative pendants featuring motifs like flowers, clover, and floral wreaths. These items reflect the personal sentiments and devotional practices of the Victorian, Edwardian, and Art Deco eras.
The objects span multiple decades from the 1880s through the 1930s, incorporating styles such as Art Nouveau, Neoclassical, and French Belle Epoque. While jewellery dominates the selection, the wider category occasionally extends to related small portable items.
Materials and Technique
Makers shaped these medallions primarily from 18K yellow gold, alongside variations in rose gold and standard gold alloys. Metalwork techniques combined traditional casting with fine engraving, twisted wire framing, and delicate raised relief.
Enamel work frequently enhances the metal surface, including translucent plique-a-jour methods that allow light to pass through the coloured glass. Artisans also integrated mother of pearl, pearls, and painted details to add texture and visual depth to the small scale.
Antique Gold Medallion Retail Price Guide 2026
Typical asking prices for gold medallion among the pieces listed under this phrase on Sellingantiques today, from the lower quarter to the upper quarter. They describe what is for sale here now, not the wider market.
Listings span periods from the Victorian era through 1930, predominantly featuring 18K yellow gold pendants, lockets, and enamel charms.
Distinctions in Quality
The sophistication of the enamel work dictates the upper tier of the range, particularly where plique-a-jour technique creates stained-glass effects within the gold cells. Subtlety of colour graduation and secure stone settings separate standard commercial output from finer workshop productions.
Emile Monier·Paul Brandt·Mazzoni·Pageli Perriat·Guilbert·Vernon·Emile Dropsy·Sellier·Rasumny
The Antique Gold Medallion Glossary
- Plique-a-jour
- An enamelling technique where enamel is applied in open cells without a backing, resembling miniature stained glass. This lets light shine through the translucent coloured material.
- Medallion
- A large medal-shaped pendant worn as jewellery or kept as a devotional object. They often commemorate religious figures, personal milestones, or symbolic motifs.
- Locket
- A small hinged pendant designed to open and enclose miniature portraits or locks of hair. Victorian examples often incorporated glass panels or engraved gold covers.
- Intaglio
- A gem, stone, or plaster carved with a design depressed below the surface. They were often collected during the Grand Tour and mounted into frames or wearable pieces.
- Charm
- A small decorative pendant suspended from a bracelet or neck chain. These items frequently depict symbolic objects, animals, or religious scenes.
Antique Gold Medallion: Frequently Asked Questions
How were antique gold medallions worn?
These pieces were typically suspended from fine gold chains around the neck or attached to chatelaines and charm bracelets. People wore them daily as personal talismans, marks of faith, or portable memorials.
Religious medals served as outward expressions of devotion, while lockets provided a private space to keep the likeness of a loved one hidden against the heart.
What periods do these medallions represent?
The pieces span the late nineteenth century through the interwar decades of the twentieth century. Victorian and Edwardian examples sit alongside French Belle Epoque and Art Deco designs.
Stylistic shifts reflect the transition from ornate floral motifs to the clean geometric lines characteristic of the 1920s and 1930s.
How do I identify French religious medals?
French religious medals frequently bear depictions of the Virgin Mary, Notre Dame of Lourdes, or the Sacred Heart, often accompanied by French inscription text. Many examples carry small maker stamps or hallmarks on the suspension ring or rim.
They are typically executed in 18K yellow or rose gold, occasionally enhanced with plique-a-jour enamel or mother-of-pearl backgrounds.
Can I open antique gold lockets?
Many antique lockets feature integrated hinges and snap closures designed to open for the insertion of photographs or hairwork. Care must be taken with older spring mechanisms to avoid straining the gold hinge.
Double-sided variants allow viewing from both front and back, sometimes incorporating glass panels to display woven hair or fabric.