Heart Necklaces & Pendants

The connotations associated with the heart today were instilled centuries ago among the cultures of the ancient world. These people felt strongly that the heart, not the mind, controlled human emotion and personality. As a result, the heart became symbolic of the self and of life.

Some delicate gold heart designs are rendered using the lost wax casting technique, a method first explored by the ancient Egyptians. The process involves the creation of a model that is then coated in wax and enclosed in a larger mold form that is heat resistant and has a small opening at top and bottom. This grouping is the heated up, causing the wax inside to melt and drip out the bottom while another metal, such as gold, is poured in and takes its place.

In the 19th century the significance of the heart was reinforced as creators of Valentine’s Day memorabilia began incorporating it into their designs. From candies and chocolates to blown up balloons, the heart-shaped wares created in celebration of Valentine’s Day have only aided in establishing the heart as one of the most universally recognized symbols.

Quick Facts

• The Egyptians believed so strongly that the heart was the core of the self that the metaphorical weighing of a deceased person’s heart was the first step on the path to the after life
• According to this belief structure, if the person’s heart, when placed on a scale, weighed less than a feather, it meant that he or she had lived a good and just life and thus could proceed; a heart that toppled the scale, however, signified that the deceased had been unjust, resulting in his or her heart becoming a snack for the god Ammit, or “Devourer of the Dead”
• So indelible is the link between the heart and love that the image of the heart can be used as a logograph, which means that the heart can be used in place of the word “love”