Yellow Gold Memory Locket
A yellow gold memory locket is a hinged pendant designed to hold portraits or mementoes, offering enduring sentimental charm.
Yellow Gold Memory Locket
A yellow gold memory locket is a hinged pendant designed to secure keepsakes close to the wearer. These pieces span from the Georgian and Victorian eras through to the mid-twentieth century.
Victorian and Edwardian examples frequently incorporate glass panels, seed pearls, or rubies. Later vintage items from the nineteen-forties and nineteen-fifties showcase engraved fancy heart designs.
How they were made
Makers utilised 9ct and 18ct yellow gold alongside gold back and front construction methods to build these hinged lockets. Engraving, engine-turned detail, and sunburst motifs decorate the exterior surfaces.
Internal compartments often feature glass panels designed to display photographs, woven hair, or fabric mementoes. Seed pearls, rubies, and emeralds are flush or prong set into the gold frames.
Yellow Gold Memory Locket Retail Price Guide 2026
Typical asking prices for yellow gold memory locket 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.
Several lockets cleverly mimic pocket watches, allowing wearers to consult their sentiments instead of the time.
What varies in quality
The standard of execution in engraving and metalwork defines the superior examples. Crisply hand-engraved scrollwork and engine-turned details distinguish finer work from simpler production.
Material composition also marks the distinction, ranging from solid 15ct and 18ct yellow gold to 9ct gold and gold back and front constructions. The precision of the hinge and the secure fit of the glass bezels complete the assessment.
Murrle Bennett·Gallia
The Yellow Gold Memory Locket Glossary
- Gold back and front
- A manufacturing technique where the exterior surfaces are made of solid gold fused to a base metal core for structural strength.
- Engine-turned
- A mechanical method of ornamenting a metal surface with intricate geometric patterns using a lathe.
- Watch fob
- A short strap or pendant attached to a pocket watch, occasionally adapted into a locket pendant.
- Murrle Bennett
- A notable arts and crafts jewellery firm known for Edwardian design work.
- Seed pearl
- Very small natural pearls often used to accent floral or geometric locket borders.
Yellow Gold Memory Locket: Frequently Asked Questions
What is a memory locket?
A memory locket is a hinged pendant created to hold personal mementoes such as miniature portraits, photographs, or locks of hair.
These pieces were worn close to the heart and often served as mourning jewellery or tokens of affection during the Victorian and Edwardian periods.
How do I open a locket?
Most lockets rely on a tiny side hinge and a snap-shut catch that releases with gentle fingernail pressure.
Care must be taken with antique hinges and glass bezels to avoid applying excessive force to the delicate gold frames.
What is gold back and front?
Gold back and front refers to a nineteenth-century method where thin sheets of solid gold are applied to a base metal interior.
This technique provided the appearance and durability of solid gold while reducing the overall weight and cost of the pendant.
How do I date a locket?
Dating relies on stylistic clues such as floral motifs, gemstone settings, and engraving techniques characteristic of Georgian, Victorian, or Edwardian periods.
Hallmarks stamped on the metal loops or interior rims also provide specific markers for the year and place of manufacture.