Do you have any sweetheart jewellery from one of the World Wars? I’m grateful to have inherited a sweetheart locket which belonged to my paternal grandmother.

It’s in the shape of a heart and has the Rising Sun badge with the words ‘Australian Commonwealth Military Forces’ on it. There’s an inscription from my grandfather to my grandmother on the back, and the date 1941, which was the year before they married.

Now almost 85 years old, the locket and its pin were tied together by my grandmother on a red ribbon with her wedding rings, both the original, which was worn extremely thin over time and its replacement.

Sweetheart jewellery began with many handmade items in the late 1800s and became a commercial enterprise during both World Wars One and Two. Jewellers and other businesses produced and sold the jewellery for the loved ones of those serving in the war. It came in different forms and was most often worn by wives, girlfriends, or mothers. The jewellery was often given as gifts, as a visible reminder of their connection.

Selected references

Commercial Sweetheart Jewellery, Australian War Memorial, 4 August 2014, https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/blog/commercial-sweetheart-jewellery, accessed 1 November 2025.

Radical Object: Military Sweetheart Brooches of the First World War, 21 November 2018, https://www.historyworkshop.org.uk/war-military/radical-objects-military-sweetheart-brooches-of-the-first-world-war/, accessed 1 November 2025.

REME History: Sweetheart Brooches, REME Museum, https://www.rememuseum.org.uk/blog/reme-history-sweetheart-brooches, accessed 1 November 2025.

Mother of pearl sweetheart jewellery and souvenirs, Australian War Memorial, 15 June 2020, https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/blog/mother-of-pearl-sweetheart-jewellery, accessed 1 November 2025.

Trench/Sweetheart Art and Miscellany, Australian Button History, https://www.austbuttonhistory.com/trench-sweetheart-art-and-miscellany/, accessed 1 November 2025.

Gold sweetheart locket with Rising Sun badge: Baby Gaylene, Australian War Memorial, https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1143733, accessed 1 November 2025.