A LOCK ON LOVE 

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Every year just before Valentine’s Day, love fills the air as people search on land and online for the perfect gift that best expresses heartfelt feelings to significant others.  If ever there was a time in human history that best embraced a loving sentiment in daily life, the Victorian period was it. Often seen in the Victorian period was the heart padlock. These love locks have been a symbol of love and commitment through the centuries. The earliest dating back to the Roman times. 

Sterling Silver Padlock necklace $124.00.

As the eighteenth century gave way to the nineteenth, the growing Romantic movement solidified the padlock’s status as a symbol of love and commitment. Padlocks remained a fashionable motif in jewelry right through the Regency.

Sterling heart and key on a fresh water pearl necklace. Available at Two Girls Gems $105.00

Available at Two Girls Gems $94.00 

Padlock lockets or pendants were often worn on a chain. Chains during the Regency were available in a wide variety of ornate link patterns, usually in gold or silver. However, records show that some of the more upscale padlock lockets or pendants were suspended from gold chains studded with diamonds or other precious gem-stones, others from chains made of pearls. These chains might be relatively short, so that the padlock lay above the bodice. But during the Regency, it was fashionable to hang padlocks and other trinkets from very long chains which fell down below the bodice to the natural waist or a bit lower. Padlocks might also be hung from ribbons, either to achieve a special effect, or because a chain was too expensive. It should be pointed out that some men wore padlocks, often padlock lockets. Men wore these pieces either as a fob, or on a plain, simple chain around their neck, in most cases under their clothing.