Can anyone tell me about this locket?

[Nell1707]

Hi

I wonder if any of you folks could help us understand the locket in the photos below.

Our family hail from a tiny village in Normandy. They've been there since records began and our branch moved to the Channel Islands in the 1880s. Other family members stayed in France, but we've lost track of them. Anyway, I found this locket and am puzzled by both the Amiens engraving (we have no connection with Amiens, that we know) and the British coat of arms. Does that signify something in particular? Google searches have not come up with anything useful. Only one of the Jersey family fought in WW1 and he died in Belgium in 1914, so before the battle of Amiens. Might it have something to do with the treaty of Amiens, 1802?? The ivy decoration - suggests fidelity?? A wedding gift perhaps?? I can't see any hallmarks on it; I don't even know if it's silver. But it is puzzling us and we feel that if we knew more about the meaning of the locket, we might be able to work out how it came to be in the family, and, maybe even identify the chap in the picture (who looks for all the world like he's taking a selfie!!)
Any input would be really appreciated.

Thanks.

[Rena]

Just a thought - have you had the locket dated?   

Could the old man have fought in the 1870 battle of Amien when I see about 1,383 French soldiers were killed and wounded, and about 1,000 were declared to be missing. The Prussians lost 1,216 soldiers and 76 officers

[Ruskie]

Interesting piece and even more interesting puzzle.

What is the piece of paper in the other half of the locket?

It is likely to be silver or white gold. Have you checked with a magnifying glass for any hallmarks? They should give an indication of country of origin, date and composition of the metal.

[jess5athome]

Hi, it's certainly a lovely thing to have, one thing I notice, I thought at first it was the coat of arms of Queen Victoria, (It may well be  ) , however I notice that if that is a unicorn on the right it doesn't appear to have a horn but a crown 

May well be nothing as I don't know anything about coats of arms, and I may just be pedantic 

Frank.

[Wiggy]

Wow! Good observation Frank!

Is the writing about the photo?

It is a lovely thing isn't it!  I wonder if the wreath has significance . . It looks like holly??

Wiggy

[jess5athome]

And again  , could that be some kind of hall mark on the inside of the ring? presumably a chain went through it, or is it just worn away?

Frank.

[3sillydogs]

This looks similar to the Coat of Arms on the back of the locket

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coats_of_arms_of_Europe#/media/File:Royal_Coat_of_Arms_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg

perhaps an earlier version of it....

[Geoff-E]

  I wonder if the wreath has significance . . It looks like holly??

Looks more like ivy to me.

[jess5athome]

I thought this one, but I'm not sure regarding the "Unicorn" but that looks to be the only difference.

Frank.

http://www.allposters.co.uk/-sp/The-Royal-Coat-of-Arms-of-Queen-Victoria-Posters_i1877551_.htm