The Two Lions.

I've finally added another lion to my collection. The first one on the left I've had for a long time and it's been one of my all time favorites as I love the Art Nouveau influence in the design. Now the same goes for the newest one on the right. It's missing a very small stone in its eye, most of them had a small domed ruby paste stone, so I'm guessing the blue stone is a replacement as they usually matched red with white stones. But it's cute as is too!

The Biggest Locket... Ever.

Warning - neck hazard. This could in fact be the biggest locket ever. A whopping 2 1/2" in diameter! When I hold it I have an immediate reaction to throw it as if it were a frisbee. But I'll try to contain myself.

My, what big teeth you have.

This is one of the most unusual lockets I've ever had. I just received it today and I've been staring at it on and off for the past hour. It's of a wolf, and a girl - who strangely enough looks happy next to the terrifying wolf. Then I thought - perhaps it's Little Red Riding Hood?

I've seen a few Little Jack Horners, and a couple of Little Miss Muffets in lockets - so it's possible. And the way she's grasping at her chest looking perhaps more shocked than happy, kind of adds up to "my what big teeth you have!". And it does look like she's wearing some type of a hood. Whatever it is, it's awesome!

Dragon Addition

The newest dragon.

Are they dragons or griffins? I'm not really sure. But I think they're fascinating either way! The new one is in the center, with the awesome pink wing.

Lovely Lady

Lovely Lady.

I have about 3 or 4 Art Nouveau Lady lockets now (it's getting sad I can't remember without looking through all of my lockets) and I'm hoping this will be my last one. But I can't promise myself anything, as it is an addiction.

Creepy Creatures

Fire Breathing Winged Dragon Locket 

Art Nouveau Dragon Locket

I'm currently on a "creature" locket search - I've found two dragon ones that I love. I love creature lockets in general like my two lion lockets and I recently added a deer locket. But these two are just plain weird, but really awesome at the same time.

Fraternal Locket Twins

Joined together again.

I just purchased this locket from a lovely lady I read about in one of my jewelry books. It is a very large locket, measuring over 2" long without the bail on the top! The gold has the most beautiful silky matte texture and appearance.

I've had the locket on the left for a little over a year now. It's the exact same size as the design in the other - but the new one has the plain gold around it. Very interesting.

To give give you an idea of the size I threw a quarter next to the "smaller" locket.

Locket Cleaning: Deux

My last post included a picture of a before and after with a brief description of how I clean. I just received a locket and took pictures of my cleaning "updates" and I thought I'd share the process more thoroughly!

The locket.

This is the locket how I received it, a bit dirty. Actually, a lot dirty. I also notice that yellow gold fill lockets if not cleaned in awhile have an orange-y dinge look. Some call that patina, I call that dinge in this case. Though don't get me wrong, I love patina when it's aged just right. Aged wine - delicious. Aged pepsi - speaks for itself. Patina on a locket can either be aged wine or pepsi... just depends on the product. Notice the staining below the motif on the locket - also a little by the loop and bail. Around her hair and throughout the leaves in the locket is dirty as well.

First wash.

I take a toothbrush and put a little hand soap or dish soap on it. I like to do it in a small sink so I can close the drain when scrubbing (just in case if any stones were loose before I washed and they fall out - an easy fix if they do). Sometimes I can be a violent scrubber but as long as I close the drain, and hold/push the locket tight. That way when I scrub the hinge won't wiggle. I find it works best when I wash the locket first because it gets rid of the dirt. That way when I polish I'm polishing the locket, not the dirt and the locket. Also it's good because it leaves some of the patina on the locket - and then you can determine whether you want to leave it or not as is. Though since this has the darker spots below and above the locket, I had to polish.

Polish & wash.

Now the locket is gleaming! In all the photographs I have a white sheet of paper in front of it so everything can be closely examined. After the polish and clean it really brightens. I like to use my rouge cloth, Fabulustre. It works really great. I was able to get in corners with my fingers and get out the darker areas. Notice the bottom of the locket - lightened a ton. After I polish I immediately do step two again, wash it with some soap and a toothbrush. I find it works better than using the other side of the rouge cloth (which is intended to get all of the rouge out leaving a sparkly clean finish). But I'd rather skip that step and just wash the rouge off. Sometimes I go in again and polish after it dries - especially around the corners. I like to take a toothpick and put it under the polishing cloth so I can get in the crevices. But I'm quite happy with how it turned out so I'll leave as is.

Voila!

Locket Cleaning

Cleaning - Before & After

I love to clean lockets. I know original patina is wonderful to keep, but I just love to polish.

Here's one of my lockets with a before and after picture. I like to use Fabulustre as it has the rouge on one side and it lasts forever!

I like to first wash it with some regular soap and scrub lightly with a toothbrush. Wait for it to dry, then polish. Then I wash it again to make sure all the rouge is off as it leaves that red tint. Sometimes I repeat the process if it's a tough one. 

The Roaring Lion

My newest purchase, this lovely Victorian roaring lion locket. Missing the jewel in its mouth - but taking it to the jewelers asap before I'm tempted to break out the super glue.

I planned to sell this one - but it's really neat and now I'm just not sure...