Still holding space.

More than a century later, it remains ready to do exactly what it was made to do. Open the locket and the original photo retainers are still in place, waiting for two small portraits, two folded notes, or whatever matters enough to be carried close. The photographs may be gone, but the space reserved for them remains.

The front is marked by a trio of ruby-colored paste stones gathered beneath a band of hand engraving, creating a design that feels more personal than ornamental. There is no monogram, no inscription, no clue as to who carried it first. Only the suggestion that something once lived inside, and the possibility that something might again.

Details

• Era: Victorian, c. 1905–1915
• Material: Gold Filled
• Stones: Ruby-colored paste stones
• Size: Approximately 1 inch diameter
• Style: Round photo locket
• Hallmarks: None found
• Condition: Good antique condition with age-appropriate wear. Original photo retainers remain intact on both sides. One paste stone shows wear to its foil backing, resulting in a slightly darker appearance than the other two stones. Locket opens and closes securely.

• Styling Notes: An easy everyday locket with enough detail to stand on its own, whether worn on a fine chain or layered among longer antique pieces.

Please Note: Jewelry box, chains, styling props, and any additional items shown in photos are for display purposes only unless specifically listed as included.

Your piece will arrive carefully packaged in RetroStarr presentation wrapping, ready for gifting, collecting, or immediate wear.

Curated by Dana Sednek, GIA trained jewelry professional and founder of RetroStarr, where each jewel is hand selected for its past lives and future attitude.

Because practicality had already been accounted for.

The smallest luxuries often leave the strongest impression. Caprice delights in details: curling scrolls, a softly puffed center, and a silhouette that transforms a simple pendant into something unmistakably antique. It asks for very little attention and somehow manages to hold onto it anyway.

Originally suspended from a watch chain, Caprice brought ornament to an object already defined by function. The openwork design and gently domed center create a surprising sense of volume despite its petite scale. Sourced in Paris and no larger than a postage stamp, it arrives as proof that the smallest objects are sometimes the hardest to forget.

Details

• Era: Victorian, c. 1900–1910
• Origin: Paris, France
• Material: Gold Filled
• Size: Approximately 1/2 inch x 3/4 inch
• Style: Watch pendant / watch chain accessory pendant
• Hallmarks: None
• Condition: Good antique condition with wear consistent with age and use. A small area of wear to the gold fill is present at the raised center cartouche on one side, visible upon close inspection and shown in photographs. The openwork details remain crisp and well defined, and the pendant retains its original charm and functionality.

• Styling Notes: Small enough for everyday wear yet distinctive enough to anchor a layered story, Caprice pairs beautifully with antique watch chains, fine gold necklaces, and collected charms from different eras.

Please Note: Jewelry box, chains, styling props, and any additional items shown in photos are for display purposes only unless specifically listed as included.

Your piece will arrive carefully packaged in RetroStarr presentation wrapping, ready for gifting, collecting, or immediate wear.

Curated by Dana Sednek, GIA trained jewelry professional and founder of RetroStarr, where each jewel is hand selected for its past lives and future attitude.

She had opinions.

More than a century later, she still appears ready to share them. Framed beneath crystal and surrounded by a halo of pink stones, she meets your gaze with an expression that reads somewhere between amusement and appraisal. Whoever she was, she understood the power of being remembered on her own terms. The portrait remains, equal parts keepsake and introduction, waiting for the next person willing to carry her story forward.

Six vivid pink stones and a finely worked gold-filled openwork halo elevate the portrait from memento to adornment. The mother-of-pearl backing catches the light beneath the crystal, giving the miniature an unexpected glow. She crossed more than a century to arrive here from Paris, carrying her identity intact and her story largely to herself.

Details

• Era: Victorian, c. 1890–1910
• Origin: Paris, France

• Material: Gold Filled, Mother of Pearl
• Stones: Six pink open-back stones

• Size: Approximately 1 1/4 inches in diameter
• Style: Portrait miniature pendant
• Hallmarks: DS
• Condition: Good antique condition with age-appropriate wear. Portrait remains clear beneath the rock crystal cover. Mother-of-pearl backing retains a lovely luminosity. Pink stones are intact and well matched. Surface wear consistent with age is present upon close inspection.

• Styling Notes: Wear Colette on a simple antique chain and let her do the talking, or layer her among lockets and charms as the undeniable focal point of a collected, storied neck stack.

Please Note: Jewelry box, chains, styling props, and any additional items shown in photos are for display purposes only unless specifically listed as included.

Your piece will arrive carefully packaged in RetroStarr presentation wrapping, ready for gifting, collecting, or immediate wear.

Curated by Dana Sednek, GIA trained jewelry professional and founder of RetroStarr, where each jewel is hand selected for its past lives and future attitude.

The geometry is older than it looks.

With its sharp radiating points and open geometric construction, Old Salem could easily be mistaken for a particularly exuberant piece of 1980s futurism. Its form, however, reaches much further back.

Hand & Hammer Silversmiths translated the traditional Moravian star into this remarkably graphic piece of jewelry, using pierced sterling silver and gold vermeil to create a dimensional pattern of points, light, and negative space. The company's Moravian Star design, #595, dates to 1984, and Hand & Hammer's own records connect its Moravian Star work to Old Salem, the historic Moravian community in North Carolina. The result is an object that manages to look historic, architectural, and slightly Space Age all at once.

Details

• Era: Vintage; design introduced 1984
• Maker: Hand & Hammer Silversmiths
• Country: United States
• Metal: Sterling silver with gold vermeil
• Hallmarks: H&H, Sterling
• Design: Moravian Star #595
• Measurements: Approximately 1 1/4 inches diameter
• Weight: 2.46 grams
• Condition: Excellent vintage condition with minimal surface wear consistent with age. Vermeil remains bright and well preserved. Please see photographs for details.
• Styling Notes: All those points do the work. Old Salem is small enough to wear easily, but graphic enough to hold its own without anything else competing for attention.

Please Note: Jewelry box, chains, styling props, and any additional items shown in photos are for display purposes only unless specifically listed as included.

Your piece will arrive carefully packaged in RetroStarr presentation wrapping, ready for gifting, collecting, or immediate wear.

Curated by Dana Sednek, GIA trained jewelry professional and founder of RetroStarr, where each jewel is hand selected for its past lives and future attitude.

Some stories were meant to be kept to yourself.

Victorians were very good at giving sentiment somewhere to hide. Here, it takes the form of a miniature gold book, complete with engraved covers, a tiny working clasp, a hinged spine and edges scored to resemble the pages of a well-loved volume. There is even a blank cartouche waiting on the cover, although after more than a century, leaving it unwritten feels rather perfect.

Open the book and two oval portrait compartments appear beneath convex rock crystal covers, both remarkably still present. Originally made to hold photographs, the little frames turn the locket into something more intimate than ornament: a private album small enough to wear around your neck. The rock crystal has been gemologically tested, and its softly magnifying convex surfaces give the empty compartments almost as much presence as the portraits they once protected.

At approximately 7/8 inch tall, the scale is particularly good for wearing rather than simply collecting. Add it to a watch chain, wear it alone on a fine gold chain, or let it join a charm-heavy neck mess. It has already spent well over a century keeping secrets. What happens next is entirely your business.

Details

• Era: Victorian, circa 1860s–1880s

• Material: Tests as 14K gold 

• Stone: Rock crystal

• Interior: Two oval portrait compartments beneath convex rock crystal covers; both covers remain present

• Design: Miniature book-form locket with engraved decoration, blank cartouche, scored page edges, hinged spine and clasp

• Maker: Unsigned

• Dimensions: Approximately 5/8 x 7/8 in.

• Weight: 6.33 g gross weight, including rock crystal

• Condition: Very good antique condition with age-appropriate surface wear and patina. Both interior rock crystal covers remain present and clear, with surface wear consistent with age. Hinges and clasp are intact. Please review all photographs closely as they form an important part of the condition description.

• Styling Notes: Small enough to layer beautifully, but interesting enough not to need company. Try it on a fine gold chain, antique watch chain or mixed charm necklace, with the book closed until someone earns the rest of the story.

Please Note: Jewelry box, chains, styling props and any additional items shown in photos are for display purposes only unless specifically listed as included.

Your piece will arrive carefully packaged in RetroStarr presentation wrapping, ready for gifting, collecting or immediate wear.

Curated by Dana Sednek, GIA trained jewelry professional and founder of RetroStarr, where each jewel is hand selected for its past lives and future attitude.