Antique jewelry object group: pendant, breast jewel Country of origin: Although it does not carry any legible control marks we believe this to be of Belgian origin. Style: Pre-Victorian (more info on styles) Period: ca. 1820 (events and facts in 1820) Source of inspiration: love and romance Theme: Heart - The heart has long been used as a symbol to refer to the spiritual, emotional, moral, and in the past also intellectual core of a human being. As the heart was once widely believed to be the seat of the human mind, the word heart continues to be used poetically to refer to the soul, and stylized depictions of hearts are extremely prevalent symbols representing love. (from: Wikipedia) Material: 18K yellow gold (more info on precious metals) Techniques: Filigree (formerly written filigrann or filigrane) is a delicate kind of jewel work made with twisted threads usually of gold and silver or stitching of the same curving motifs. It often suggests lace and French from 1660 to the late 19th century. It should not be confused with ajoure jewellery work; while both have many open areas, filigree involves threads being soldered together to form an object and ajoure involves holes being punched, drilled, or cut through an existing piece of metal. (from: Wikipedia) In the time this jewel was made gold was very expensive and labour relatively cheap. To be able for the �not so rich� to wear gold jewelry too, jewelers used a technique to made gold jewelry very thin to obtain an optimal effect with as little as intrinsic costs as possible. As such jewels are very fragile and a lot of things could have happened to them over the ages, it is not obvious to find them in this condition. Extra information: This type of breast jewel or pendant is typically Belgian in the late 18th till mid-19th century. The big hanging heart surrounded by filigree is in fact a locket. Hallmarks: Illegible remains. (more info on hallmarks) Condition: very good condition (more info on our condition scale) Dimensions: height 10.00 cm (3.94 inch) Weight: 9.20 gram (5.92 dwt) Reference N: 09329-4311 Copyright photography: Adin, fine antique jewelry