I may be a girlie girl but I also have a slight fascination with the macabre. Lately Victorian mourning jewelry is at the top of my "I want" list. Originally, mourning jewelry was made from jet. A "gemstone" of ancient, compressed wood, always black in color (likely where the expression "jet black" comes from).
It became popular during the reign of Queen Victoria, when the Queen wore Whitby jet as part of her mourning dress.
During the peak of its popularity between 1860 to 1890, more affordable and faster reproductions of authentic jet were used as it became the height of fashion.
