Most lockets sold today are hollow stamped shells with a hinge that gives up after a year or two. The lid sags, the clasp pinches, and the photo inside curls at the corners. A locket should be the most personal thing you own, so it is strange that so many people settle for one built like a disposable trinket. Commissioning a locket changes that equation. You decide the proportions, the metal, the engraving, and the size of the compartment, and you end up with a piece that opens cleanly for decades instead of disappointments.
The first design question is what the locket is actually for. A locket meant to hold a portrait of a child is a different object than one meant to hold a snippet of hair, a handwritten note, or a small amount of ash. Each of those contents drives the internal compartment size, the seal, and even the wall thickness. If you plan to carry something delicate, we build the inside as a shallow fitted tray rather than an open hollow cavity, because loose contents slide and scratch against each other. Telling us this on day one saves a redesign later.
Shape is the next decision. The classic oval still works because it drapes naturally on a chain, but we also regularly commission round, square, and heart-shaped pieces with modern proportions. A heart locket does not have to read as costume jewelry - when the walls are built in solid 18k rather than stamped, and the engraving is kept restrained, it reads as an heirloom. The mistake most buyers make is choosing a shape before they have thought about scale. A 28mm oval dominates a narrow collarbone; a 16mm one disappears entirely. We talk through this on your chain so the proportions live on your body, not on a bench ruler.
Metal choice matters more here than it does on a ring, because a locket flexes every time you open it. Sterling silver is forgiving and affordable, but it softens with repeated opening and tarnishes against skin. 14k and 18k gold hold their hinge action far longer, and platinum is the longest-lived option for someone who wants the piece to outlive them. Many clients choose a two-tone interior - a gold outer shell with a platinum inner tray - so the part that touches the keepsake stays inert and clean.
Engraving is where a locket stops being generic. Outside, a short date, coordinates, or a single word usually reads better than a full sentence. Inside, you have room for a handwritten signature, a fingerprint, or a line of verse. We photograph actual handwriting and carve it into the lid so it matches the original stroke weight rather than turning it into a neat typed font. That hand-carved look is the detail people notice without being able to name.
The hinge is the part that separates a real locket from a cheap one. Stamped lockets use a folded wire hinge that loosens in months. Our lockets use a knife-edge hinge with a fitted catch, assembled by hand and tuned on the bench until the lid closes with a deliberate, satisfying click. You should be able to open it one-handed. If you cannot, the design failed.
Inserting the photograph is the step most people underestimate. Prints on photo paper curl with humidity. We recommend a print on rigid cardstock sealed under a thin clear cover, sized to the exact internal tray so it does not rattle. For a keepsake that needs to stay pristine for generations, a laser-engraved image onto a small disc of platinum or 24k gold inside the lid will not fade, yellow, or curl. It costs more, but it is the version that still looks right in fifty years.
A locket pairs beautifully with a thin chain, and we usually commission the chain at the same time so the weight and the bail sit right. If you are redesigning a family piece into something new, we melt and reuse your existing gold rather than send it off, which keeps the emotional weight in the piece. And because a locket sits against skin, it is worth a periodic bench check the way any heirloom is - the hinge tightened, the catch adjusted, the chain clasp replaced before it fails.
The clients who love their custom lockets are usually the ones who treated it like a small box, not a necklace. They put one meaningful thing inside, engraved one honest date on the back, and wore it every day for twenty years. That is the standard we build toward. A locket you open every morning should reward you, not resist you. If you are still deciding what belongs inside, bring the object to the consultation and we will size the tray around it rather than the other way around.
