14k Yellow Gold Mama Combination Lock Pendant Necklace
MAKER: Heavenly Vices Fine Jewelry
CIRCA: c. 2026
STYLE: Contemporary, Victorian Revival
METAL: 14K Yellow Gold
STONES: None
CONDITION: New, made to order
HALLMARKS: Heavenly Vices logo, 14K, U.S. design patent number
DIMENSIONS: Lock 27 mm; chain 18"
WEIGHT: 15 grams with chain
ORIGIN: Handmade in New York City
Nelson Mandela said it always seems impossible until it is done. For 914 days, that was less inspiration than prophecy.
The idea came from a Victorian padlock I found while hunting antiques for the Love Stories collection. The Victorians lived in an age of encoded emotion. Flowers carried meaning, coins were engraved with initials no one else was meant to understand, and jewelry did the talking when people couldn't. Holding that padlock I thought: what if a jewel didn't just symbolize a secret? What if it kept one?
Mama is that jewel, the third of the locks to be born. A real combination lock, cast in solid 14k gold, and it is the clasp itself. Four rondels turn freely around the barrel, one for each letter, and a notched gold key rides along the chain and slips into the keyhole at the end. Scramble the rondels and the necklace stays on. Spell the word and the key slides free. The lock doesn't simply fasten the chain. It says something, and it only lets go when you say it back.
Every rondel has three faces, because I wanted the word spoken in three languages. Turn the barrel and M-A-M-A becomes four symbols in relief, drawn from our vault of antique love tokens...
Category
2010s Victorian Atlanta