Antique mourning jewelry

Mourning jewelry - a fashion that grew in popularity, starting in the 16th century during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and reaching its peak during the reign of Queen Victoria. Death was present in every home, due to wars, epidemics, famine and poverty, sanitary conditions, and more.

Mourning jewelry was a means of expressing personal grief and a social statement of respect and remembrance for the dead.
They were made of various materials, depending on status and economic ability. They were decorated with black enamel, pearls, a symbol of tears, dark stones were incorporated or carved into them, paintings and inscriptions such as: Momento mori, until we meet again, the name of the deceased, his date of birth and/or death, paintings of skulls and crossbones, coffins, hourglasses, snakes and burning hearts, a mourning woman, a weeping willow tree, angels accompanying the soul of the deceased, and more.
The height of this fashion was in the Victorian era, after the death of King Albert, Queen Victoria's beloved husband, in 1861. The Queen's mourning was evident in all aspects of culture and society at the time. The Queen, until the day of her death, wore black and mourning jewelry.

One of the unique materials from which these jewelry were made was the jet-Watby, a fossilized coal produced in the city of Watby, an organic material, easy to process, with an elegant and somber appearance. The mourning jewelry industry was a source of income for many and they were exported to Europe and America, where the Civil War was taking place at the time.

As mentioned, mourning jewelry in the Victorian period also had a social use, and alongside the expression of
Personal mourning was also a statement of economic ability, in light of the industrial revolution that brought about significant social change. The bourgeois class became economically powerful, while the upper class began to lose its assets. The bourgeois class did not hesitate to exploit its economic power to climb the social ladder, to the detriment of those with blue blood.
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Mourning jewelry today is a collector's item and its value is determined by its condition, the period in which it was made, its rarity, and supply and demand.

Mr. what they are made of and the design.