VICTORIAN MOURNING JEWELRY & VICTORIAN JEWELRY HISTORY

When Prince Albert died in 1861, Queen Victoria's grief was so profound that not only did she have her servants lay out Albert's clothes every morning after his death, but she only wore black until her own death in 1901. Unwittingly, she started the craze for what was popularly dubbed, mourning jewelry. Items such as necklaces, rings, brooches, and bracelets that contained jet were all the rage.