For centuries, jewelry has served as secret declarations of love. They were often worn as evidence that the wearer's heart was busy. The moral norms of the past centuries did not allow openly exchanging feelings, and love communication was carried out through jewelry. It would seem that today there are no restrictions, but some jewelry speaks louder than any words. What, the jewelry experts of the federal network of jewelry and watch stores AllTime will tell you.

Popular Victorian Jewelry Secrets

Jewelry ciphers were especially popular in the first half of the 19th century in England. The peak of fashion for such jewelry fell on the romantic period of the Victorian era. In the art of "secret love", the inhabitants of those times were extremely inventive, and their cipher innovations became a huge contribution to the art of jewelry in general.



The main motives and plots in the jewelry-ciphers of this period were double hearts pierced by Cupid's arrow, signifying the inextricable bond of lovers, a crowned heart, which was deciphered by the phrase "You are the queen of my soul", hearts in flames - symbols of ardent passion. Love in jewelry was also symbolized by a lock with a key and Cupid's bow.

Acrostic jewelry

One of the favorite jewelry ciphers of this period of history and subsequent ones, up to the present day, has become an acrostic decoration - a product with natural stones, the initial letters of the names of which form a word or phrase. The most popular acrostics of the Victorian era were the words love, dear, adored, beloved, bow, and confession.



An exceptional fashion for acrostic jewelry was introduced by the most famous couple in history - Napoleon Bonaparte and Josephine Beauharnais. Giving such themed jewelry became part of their family tradition, which Napoleon did not refuse even when he was in his second marriage. The emperor was assisted by his personal jeweler Marie-Etienne Nito, the founder of the famous jewelry house Chaumet, to encrypt messages through stones, masterfully inlaid with precious metal.

Ciphers from the Chaumet brand

The romantic acro tradition of the French brand Chaumet lives on today with the ABC jewelry collection designed by jeweler Jessica McCormack. Choosing a certain sequence of stones, of which there are 26 pieces in "ABC", any secret message can be put into the decoration. The most relevant is the French word for "love", which is encrypted with amethyst (A), morganite (M), opal (O), uvite (U) and rhodolite (R).

Secret Confessions of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor

One of the most famous couples of the 20th century and one of the most dramatic and vivid love stories is Wallis Simpson and Prince Edward VIII, who abdicated the British throne for the sake of marriage with a simple American woman. Not all lovers made such sacrifices! This couple knew a lot about encrypted jewelry messages. So, on the wedding ring of the Duchess of Windsor with a huge emerald of almost 20 carats there is a mysterious engraving: "Now we are together 27 X 36". The last numbers indicate the date on which the prince made the final decision to abdicate the throne.



Another secret sign of the Windsor's love was a gold Cartier brooch in the shape of a heart with intertwined initials "W" and "E", topped with a ruby ​​crown.



Another jewelry mystery is a gold cigarette case inlaid with precious stones, with maps of Europe and North Africa inscribed on it. Wallis gave this product to her lover as a wedding gift. The routes depicted on the lid of the cigarette case are a map of the couple's trips during which they were especially happy.This is a sign of the closeness of souls and hearts, which are inseparable, which always feel good together, as it was on these journeys.

But the most iconic symbol of the lovers' sublime feelings was the Cartier bracelet with nine precious cross charms, each of which encodes the most important dates in the couple's life. Each cross symbolizes its own stage in the joint life path and reflects the power of love that the Windsor people shared in both trouble and joy. Each charm is engraved on the back with a memorable date for lovers.

Snake as a symbol of inseparability

It would seem that the snake is something vile and soulless, but the jewelry world is dominated by its own special symbolism. A ring, bracelet or brooch in the shape of a snake are the strongest amulets, denoting the inviolability of the feelings of beloved ones, no matter how far they are from each other.



The founder of this "sign" was the famous jeweler, founder of the House of Boucheron, Frederic Boucheron. Once he went to the World's Fair in Philadelphia, he was forced to leave his wife Gabrielle for a decent period, given that he had never parted with her for more than a few days before. The couple terribly did not want to be separated, and a few days before leaving, Boucheron presented his beloved with a snake-shaped jewelry - a talisman that would protect Gabriel during his absence. Since then, she has never parted with this jewel, which later became a symbol of patronage and conjugal love for other couples.

21st century encryption

As the years passed, ciphers became less inventive, but no less symbolic - in the middle of the 20th century, engraving inside a ring with a short message or a monogram gained popularity. This trend has not lost its relevance today.

These days, showing feelings in public is not considered a sign of bad taste, as it used to be, but still, many of us continue to protect our feelings from society. And jewelry designers go to meet people, reviving jewelry ciphers of the past in jewelry and coming up with new codes. For example, London-based brand Jessie V E creates jewelery with messages encrypted in a dotted tactile Braille. You can count them only by touching the surface of the decoration with your finger.



Morse code, fingerprints, cardiograms, soundtrack diagrams, face profiles and more - all this is in modern jewelry, and this makes them unique, because they encrypt bright feelings and those to whom hearts are given.

However, the most relevant love symbols in jewelry, perhaps, remain unchanged: a heart (for example, divided into 2 halves - paired jewelry), a lock and a key, 2 puzzles that combine into one picture, pendants and bracelets with initials, personalized engraving - all this will help you confess your love and carry it not only in your heart, but also in the image through many years.