lockets were a popular fashion accessory during the Victorian period. Especially around the 1860s -1880s. With the development of photography, lockets became a big fashion statement. In some Jewelry books on Victorian Jewelry you might see photographs of Victorian women wearing lockets on a long book chain.
I couldn't help notice the theme of the horseshoe on the front of the locket, embellished with antique cut diamonds and rubies. Exquisite! The horseshoe motif was fashionable also during this period.
There seems to be no agreement among historians as to when and by who horseshoes were first invented. What seems most plausible is that shoeing was invented by numerous armorers in different places at about the same time, and then kept as a military secret for a very short time - until the practice was apparently widespread. In the Victorian era, the horseshoe was the emblem of good luck... as it is today.
