Lockets date back to the 15th century, and it's wild to think about the technical work in a dark room that would have to go into getting a photograph small enough to fit exactly inside a locket. I often wonder about those first locket makers - the photographers, the developers, the jewelers - was the first rendition a happy accident? An unintentional shift that changed how people can carry forward connections and memories? Or did someone make it with the design in mind first? Was there a longing for someone that inspired the entire genre?

I like to imagine the locket makers of the 15th century, or even the 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. What techniques did they use to resize their images? Who was designing their lockets? How did they get the shapes right?

At The Locket Sisters we use technology and an editing software to maintain the integrity of each photograph that will be placed inside each locket. Our designs range in shape, metal, size, depth, presence and style. Each order is custom made, resized thoughtfully with a focus on the people you love and the reasons you want them inside a piece of jewelry held close to your heart, and handled dozens of times as we place a secure clear resin on top of your photograph to protect it over time.

Among our dozens of designs, there are a handful of round locket designs that remain the most popular for images that will be cropped to a circle.

One of our first open pendant necklaces was The Penny Locket, which is named after my daughter, who is also the genesis for expanding The Locket Sisters from someone my sister and I offered our photography clients to something we offered the whole world. Penny was wearing one of my lockets to preschool because it helped her when she missed me. It provided her such noteworthy comfort that she offered it to another child who was struggling after drop-off. I told my sister this story and she was like, "We need to offer these to more people." The Penny Locket remains one of our best-selling lockets to this day. It comes on gold or silver, and works best with an image that can be cropped to a circle.

The Silver Disco Ball Locket was first launched with UnCommon Goods several years ago as The Silver Orb Locket. That was an incredible experience to partner with such a big, well-respected marketplace for small makers and designers to showcase their artwork, an honor really, but alas, we claimed this locket necklace design back as our own to offer it directly to our own audience. It's been a hit ever since, and I think it's depth and dimension and beauty often surprises folks when they receive it. The Disco Ball Locket is so so so lovely.

The Bangle Locket is one of a kind, something that you can't get anywhere else. It's the same charm as The Edith, but dangles from a structured bracelet in silver or gold, which is also available now in solid 14k gold too.

I love this design, a locket on a bracelet, because some days I don't want to wear a necklace, or some days I like the uniqueness of a bracelet, and it's a subtle statement piece where I often find people giving it a second look and saying, "Is that a locket?!" 

I remember the first time The Little Gold Circle Locket Necklace sold out was Mother's Day 2020. For some reason it just flew off the shelves, everyone wanted it all at once (maybe there was a Little Gold Circle fairy telling everyone about it?) and I thought, huh, ok - this is a good design. And it is. It's simple, iconic, something you can wear every day, it's petite without being too small. The Little Circle Locket layers with other jewelry - throw it on with big bulky jewelry, wear it itself as it's own piece, tuck it under a sweater so no one knows its there or showcase it as a topic of conversation. It's versatile, modern, clean, simple, understated, and a perfect locket. I hold it in my head as the gold standard for lockets if someone doesn't know what to gift someone. "Try this one," I tell 'em, "its terribly agreeable with everyone." Easy to love, never offends, not too much or too little. Holds a tiny round photograph inside, or two of course, and stays safely close to your heart. 

And lastly, one of our biggest lockets, The Addie. The image is 1.25" and frankly feels huge compared to so many of our smaller lockets. We often find this design is a perfect for folks who aren't interested in squinting to see a photograph and perhaps don't want to handle the opening and closing of a necklace in order to see the photograph they're carrying around near their heart. 

So now that you've seen our most popular round locket designs, maybe you're wondering how to decide if this is the right design for your photograph, or what photograph is right for these designs?

When making round lockets we use die-cuts to stamp the perfect photograph cut specifically for the locket you've chosen. The edges will all be gone, so the best photograph or picture to use for a round locket is one that focuses the subjects, or people, to the center of the image. Maybe their heads are together, or their standing near on another, or embracing. If the faces show up on the corners, it's likely the crop could effect the way they show up in the locket. 

Choose a photograph where the subjects are toward the middle, and you'll be good to go! If you still have questions, send us a message here and we'll get back to you right away.

Warmly,

Allyssa