Gold Garnet Locket Brooch, 1870

• Garnet - A garnet is a mineral that is commonly used as a gemstone. It occurs in a wide range of colours, including red, pink, orange, green, yellow, and black. The most common and best known type of garnet is the red variety, which has a deep, rich colour and is often referred to as a "garnet red."
  
  Garnets have a long history of use as gemstones, and they have been prized for their beauty and durability for thousands of years. They are often used in jewellery, such as rings, necklaces, and earrings, and they are also sometimes used as a decorative element in other items, such as vases and goblets.
  
  Garnets are prized for their brilliance, durability, and resistance to scratching, making them a popular choice for use in jewellery. They are also valued for their hardness, which makes them well suited for use in abrasive applications, such as sandpaper and grinding wheels.
• Circa - A Latin term meaning 'about', often used in the antique trade to give an approximate date for the piece, usually considered to be five years on either side of the circa year. Thus, circa 1900 means the piece was made about 1900, probably between 1895 and 1905. The expression is sometimes abbreviated to c.1900.
• Foliate - Decorated with leaves or leaf-like forms.
• Doublet and Triplet - A doublet and a triplet are both composite imitation stones, consisting of two or three joined layers. A triplet is made with the crown and base of genuine material, but with a centre layer, usually of glass, the object being to make the stone appear larger than it really is. A doublet consists of only two layers.
  
  Opal doublets are quite common and consist of a thin layer of opal cemented to an opal matrix or black glass.

This item has been included into following indexes:

• brooches, design or type - portrait and locket 507
• brooches, floral design - floral design, gold mounted 878
• brooches, other - with locket 753
• brooches, set with - garnet 165