1860s “Souvenir” Locket, 18K Gold, with Plaited Hair and Tintypes
Victorian 10K Gold Chain, $950 

One of the cooler Victorian lockets I’ve seen.  It’s faced with crystal covering plaited hair, and secured with banner of gold in which “Souvenir” has been pierced.  Inside are tintype portraits of an older woman and a little girl.  

The word souvenir tends to have different connotations in Victorian jewelry than it does today.  It’s closer to its French root, which is “to remember.”  So often you’ll see sentimental Victorian jewelry (and occasionally mourning jewelry) decorated with the word to signify the remembrance of a person.  Now we think of souvenirs more as tokens of a place rather than a person, but I guess the idea is the same.  Except that now the word suggests kitsch rather than love.