The object at hand is my great-grandmother’s (i.e., nana’s) locket. Within the women of my family, it has become a family heirloom that was passed down from my nana to my mom and eventually will be given to me.

This heirloom is made of solid yellow gold and consists of three heart-shaped layers (back, front, and the middle pull apart). The pull-apart capability of this locket was created from having a thinner gold heart inside the general locket. There is a clasp at the top of the heart that allows the wearer to open the locket. When this item was in possession of my nana a small picture was inserted into this pull-apart section. If we look at the front of the locket the ridges around the edge of the heart are both raised and slightly rounded creating a small reservoir or sunken effect where a thin layer of gold lays flat beneath it. This thin layer of gold is textured. If you rub your finger across the surface, it is the same as when you rub your fingers against a decorative pillow. If we look at the top of the heart, we can see two rods of thick gold curve down into roughly the center of the locket. These rods are attached to the flat gold base and are each adorned with a single round-cut diamond.

When you compare the dainty modern-day lockets to this one you can see the drastic size difference. This locket measures about 3.8 centimeters in length. When clasped the width is nearly 3.6 centimeters, and when fully opened it expands to a little over 5 centimeters. This locket can fit perfectly in the hand of a toddler.

When I flip this locket over, we see the real significance of the object. Engraved in English roundhouse script are three parallel lines of writing. The first line reads To Lena, which is then followed by From Leon. Finally, the last line has the date of 11~24~59. Due to this slight shakiness in some of the lettering, it can be determined that this was done by hand. If I theorize a lozenge burin could very well be the tool used to make these markings. The markings on the locket are consistent with the markings the tool makes. The engravements appear to be deeper than the width of the letters.

The chain is completely flat, unlike a rope chain. Each individual link seems to be made of an “S” like shape, and each of these “S’s” intertwine with the tail of the next. Even through heavy research, not much is known about the maker of this object. It can be assumed that it was made in 1959, as the given date suggests, and when looking at the clasp at the top of the chain a small stamp of Italy, 14k can be found. In my own assumptions of the making of this necklace I imagine that it was imported from Italy to a jeweler in the city or Scarsdale, NY; where then a small business owner took it upon himself to make the engravings.

The necklace was a gift given by my great-grandfather, Leon, to my nana Lena for their 25th wedding anniversary. They had been married in 1934, a year before they had my uncle (great-uncle) Dick, and eleven years before the birth of my grandpa Larry. They had been high school sweethearts and were married for 29 years before Leon had passed away at the age of 50. This necklace was given to her four years before his passing and my mom recalls that never once had she ever taken it off. My mom has told me stories that when she was little, she used to sit on her nana’s lap and play with the pendent begging for her to let her try it on. “When you’re older I’ll give it to you Laur.”, she would say; she later gave it to my mom a month before she passed. In this photograph of my mom, myself, and nana, if you look closely, you can see the chain of the necklace around her neck.