A concise introduction to the history of sentimental jewellery.

The author describes the origins of mourning and other sentimental jewellery and helps the reader to identify these appealing jewels, which can tell us much about the way in which our ancestors lived, loved and died.

By no means all of it is linked to death. Many attractive pieces were given as tokens of affection, sometimes inscribed with personalised messages and often very elaborately designed. The use of certain symbols, stones and motifs offers a coded glimpse into the meaning of each individual jewel, and makes them particularly intriguing to modern collectors.