Posted 12 years ago
MelissaBu
(27 items)
Very old gold locket given to me from my Aunt. At first she didn't know it was a locket till I figured out how to open it. We discovered that the picture in it was of my Dad at a very young age. On the other side it is stamped a tiny heart with W & R 06 and below it says: 1/4 GOLD SHELL. I would really like to find out what the initials that are scripted on the front say and possibly where and when this locket was made. If someone could help me with this I would be eternally grateful... Thank you...
Okay thank you...
1/4 Gold Shell means that it is quite heavily gold plated, but it is not gold. I would estimate it to be from the 1915-1925 period and as a piece of costume jewellery its value is between £15 - £30. Did you check the chain it came on, does that have any hallmarks at all?
Very pretty locket! And how special to have a picture of your father as a child in it too! I agree with mustangtony that the monogram looks like E S L with the S most likely being the surname initial. I can't tell much from your last picture where the markings in the heart are probably shown, but I have one of similar design posted here that sounds as if it has the same markings but mine is W H inside of a heart with CO under it for Wightman and Hough Company. (at first, I thought mine had a W and R inside of the heart before I looked with a jeweler's loupe.) They manufactured lockets and watch fobs around 1900. If you'd like to take a look and see if it's marked the same as yours, the link for it is here:
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/59795-lovely-old-locket-with-baby-pictures?in=734
If it is the same marking, you can google the company and find many different styles and sizes of their pieces. Thanks for sharing yours!
@thehorologist... I put the chain on it myself being that I received it without a chain...
@chinablue... I looked at yours and discovered that yes... it is the same company... Thank you both so much for your help. I can now tell my Aunt the initials and hopefully find out who this belonged to in the family.