Heirlooms always come to us with history, but not all come with personal stories—tales of grandma wearing a pearl necklace on every Sunday, grandpa’s old watch he never left behind, or earrings that have been passed down for five generations. This is the case with these hand-carved mother of pearl pieces:

Originally a mens watch fob charm, these two mother of pearl pieces hung together as one with the horseshoe fastened just below the horse head—a fanciful charm that would have been attached to a pocket watch and draped out of a vest pocket to easily access the time. From the style and age of the metal we know this beauty is undeniably Victorian and from the 1800s. And at some point, the equestrian piece was adapted to pin to a coat or vest with a black ribbon and pin.

Finding a hand carved antiquity like this, still intact after over 100 years of age and wear, is definitely rare (and just the kind of piece we seek out). It was only after we bought the equestrian combo that we heard the story: the seller’s grandfather never left the house without wearing the antique piece to the races—for good luck of course! An avid race attendee, he was there almost religiously and never without his good luck charm pinned to his suit jacket. So sweet to imagine a man faithfully sporting his horse medallion every race day (we only hope that it brought him nothing but winning bets).

People let go of family heirlooms for different reasons, but we see it as our duty to pass the story along—not for our heritage, but for someone else. If you happen to be the “lucky” new owner, we hope you wear and carry this piece with just as much sentiment as the family it came from—passing down the story of the grandfather faithfully wearing his antique token as he placed bets every race day (maybe it will bring you as much luck as it brought him).