Whilst most commonly thought of as a piece of jewellery for hanging round your neck there are all sorts of pieces of jewellery you can find with locket compartments. Locket brooches, locket bracelets, rings  and locket charms all spring to mind. I have even seen a pair of earrings and a belt buckle with hidden compartments in them.

Lockets can be made so that the contents are on display behind glass or hidden beneath a door. They can have one compartment or more. The most common on a necklace locket is to have a space for a photo inside each of the two doors. Sometimes you come across what is known as a family locket which is made to hold several photographs, one for each of your children possibly.

Lockets have been worn as jewellery for hundreds of years.  Early lockets often held a miniature portrait painting inside. In Georgian and Victorian times they were popular pieces of mourning jewellery used to hold a lock of hair of a departed loved one. The Victorians also wore lockets as sentimental or sweetheart jewellery and lover  kept a photograph or small token inside. These days lockets are most commonly used to hold photographs.

Like most pieces of jewellery, The locket can be made of almost any imaginable material. Silver and gold are the most popular. Antique lockets made of rolled gold or gold plate offer a cheaper alternative. The Victorians were fond of Jet to make their mourning lockets.

Look out for special lockets such as family lockets made to hold a whole family of photographs. Some antique lockets can still be found with their original photographs inside , these are sought after by collectors as are those with original locks of hair or pressed flowers inside.