The Locket Sisters Make Necklaces that Preserve Memories

These sisters help keep important people—and stories—close to heart.

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While traveling the world for more than 15 years as a model, Amy Woodford Honmyhr longed for a locket to hold photos of her husband and children. Meanwhile, her sister, Allyssa Woodford Hughes, had a hard time seeing her own daughter struggle with preschool drop-off. Knowing Hughes’s love for making jewelry, Honmyhr suggested they create lockets—not only for themselves and their families, but also as an extension of their business, Woodford Sisters Photography.

“We saw a need for something we both wanted,” says Hughes, “so we just created it ourselves.” One sister’s locket got her through weeks away from family, and the other sister’s daughter felt so comforted by hers, classmates requested lockets of their own.

As word-of-mouth and locket demand spread, Hughes and Honmyhr knew they were onto something. Long beloved, especially during the Victorian era, lockets aren’t new. But the close-knit sisters (two of five siblings) also recognized the power of family, love, and captured memories, but in a modern way. They tinkered with price points, materials, as well as methods to mount and protect photos until they got it right. Next came a website—TheLocketSisters.com—and the two began taking on anyone’s stories and crafting them into fashionable heirlooms with emotional weight.

To them, The Locket Sisters is about much more than just creating lockets and cashing checks.  The two make a point to ask their customers to share their stories so that they are able to humanize them and pour their love into every design. “Hearing stories about our customer’s life—why they chose a certain image, what the image means to them, experiences loving or losing someone—inspires us,” says Hughes. “Their stories are our stories, everyone’s stories.”

Creating the lockets locally along with having an online presence has connected them with people all across the world—from the U.S. to Italy to Japan. Each month, The Locket Sisters select a different charity and donate 25 percent of all profits.

The lockets—all named after family members—range from $75 to $225, and come in open and closed-faced styles in nickel-free brass, sterling silver, and 24k gold. And, according to the sisters, they’re built to stand the test of time. Each photo is protected by a water-resistant resin.

“The Locket Sisters has shifted how we see the world and how we wake up each day,” says Hughes. Honmyhr adds, “It’s become a surprising gift that has made us more grateful women.”