Giving a locket

The lockets people keep are about one person or one day. A name and a year. A photograph they have already framed somewhere else. A line only the two of you use. A generic locket is still pretty. It is not the thing they will open in ten years.

If you do not have the right photograph, do not guess with a crop from social media. Engrave the inside and leave a frame empty. Tell them that is intentional.

For a partner, a plain or “I love you” heart is clear. For a parent, an oval with a portrait, or a heart with a child’s photograph, is the usual choice, and the right one. For someone who has died, or for a birth people want marked quietly, the heart with angel wings carries that without a speech.

Floral lids suit someone who wears jewelry for its own sake. The sentiment can stay inside, where only they see it.

Put it on them, or let them open the locket before they look at the box. The inside is the gift. The outside is the wrapping.

Say who it is for in the first sentence of a note. “For your mother, on your wedding day” does more than “a necklace”. Keep the receipt. Personalised pieces are awkward to exchange, and the spelling of a name is the thing most worth checking while you still can.