Mourning Jewelry

Mourning Jewelry has been around in one form or another since the 1400’s but did not become mainstream and popular until the Georgian and more so the Victorian periods.  In England, Mourning Jewelry, although used in some eras as status symbols, was really a way for people to remember loved ones who passed away.  Mourning Jewelry didn’t really become popular in the United States until 1861 – 1865, the years of the American Civil War, where more than 600,000 soldiers died.  This period also coincided with the death of Prince Albert in 1861, after which Queen Victoria’s went into mourning and wore the jewelry as a remembrance of her husband and was quickly imitated by the population.