Lover's Lock "Mizpah" Pendant

This one-of-a-kind necklace is composed of:

• Victorian dress pin from the late 1800s with hand tooled and engraved design details featuring the word "MIZPAH". The phrase "The Lord Watch Between Thee & Me When We Are Absent One From Another" is engraved on the front of each side of the double, interlocking hearts. This piece was made and sourced in England.

• This necklace measures a standard 18” on a 14k gold filled chain with the pendant measuring 1.75” in width.

THE HISTORY

During the mid to late 1800’s, jewelry with the word "Mizpah" was often exchanged between two sweethearts. The word comes from the Hebrew word for watchtower--as mentioned in the Bible, it marked an agreement between two people, with God as their witness. Since that time, Mizpah has come to represent an emotional bond between people who are separated (either physically or by death). 

Mizpah jewelry was most often given to your beloved when a long separation was in the foreseeable future. With the great expansion of the British empire, travel was suddenly a feasible venture and would last months. The Crimean War called British soldiers away from their wives and children. The American Civil War did the same, with no indication of a return.

During the formal Victorian era strict rules for courtship were observed, and gifts of jewelry between men and women could suggest impropriety. However Mizpah pieces could safely be exchanged as sentimental tokens of affection, some of which even containing a verse from the Bible. 

These sentimental tokens of affection were used as a lasting and tangible declaration of love and devotion, and as a protective keepsake. People truly believed in the power of Mizpah, hoping their love translated into adornment would provide safety and bring them together again again one day.