During part of the Victorian period from about 1860 to 1890, morning jewellery was the height of fashion and black was a stylish color, not just an ornament of mourning. Made of Jet, Vulcanite, Bog Oak or Pressed Horn, each carried special meaning as a memento of a loved one. While some black jewellery was meant to be worn during mourning, black jewellery was fashionable as well and worn for its beauty and sentiment

VULCANITE (also sometimes called "ebonite") was made by combining and heating sap of the Euphorbia or Ficus trees from Malaysia with sulphur. Invented in 1843 by Thomas Hancock, pieces made of vulcanite were almost always moulded, not carved, and it was used mainly in making jewellery.