'I never planned to run our family jewellery shop – now I uncover the love stories hidden in Victorian rings'

Behind the glittering window of Aladdin’s Cave in Leeds’ Queens Arcade is a family business shaped by more than four decades of history.

The antique jewellery store, the oldest shop in the arcade, was established 45 years ago by Sheila and Peter Isaacs. After they retired, their daughter Roberta and Tony Spencer bought the business.

The family suffered a tragedy in 2002 when Tony died after having a heart attack in the shop following an altercation with a customer.

Their daughter Jessica Spencer had been hoping to pursue a career in journalism, but was drafted into the business following his death. She has run the shop with her mum ever since.

Jessica, a mum of two, lives in Leeds with her partner Warren and their daughters, Arielle, ten, and Halle, five.

A proud Yorkshire woman, she is particularly drawn to the way antique jewellery can connect its owner with people, places and events from the past.

She said: “One of the things I find most fascinating about antique jewellery is that it was very often about much more than decoration.

“Jewellery could communicate love, remembrance, loyalty, friendship, grief and hope, and some of those meanings have become almost forgotten today.”

Small details including inscriptions, gemstones, motifs and materials can offer clues about why an item was made and the person who may once have worn it.

One example is MIZPAH jewellery, which became especially popular during the Victorian period.

Jessica said: “MIZPAH comes from Genesis and the phrase, ‘The Lord watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another.’

“The word appeared on rings, brooches and other sentimental jewellery and became associated with people who were separated from one another.

“These pieces could be given between sweethearts, friends or family members as a way of saying, essentially, ‘May we be watched over while we’re apart.’”

She added: “Today, somebody might initially see an attractive Victorian ring with an unusual word across it.

“Once you know what MIZPAH meant to the person who gave it, it becomes something completely different. That’s the part of antique jewellery I love.”

The meaning attached to snake jewellery has also changed over time. While snakes may now be viewed as threatening or sinister, Victorian designs used their coiled shape to represent eternity and everlasting love.

Queen Victoria’s engagement ring from Prince Albert was famously made in the form of a snake, helping the style become particularly fashionable during the Victorian period.

Jessica said: “We still see beautiful antique snake rings, bracelets and brooches. Once you understand the symbolism, what initially looks like an unusual Victorian design becomes an incredibly romantic piece of jewellery.”

Mourning jewellery is another area attracting renewed interest. Victorian pieces can include woven hair, names, initials or dates of death, while black materials such as jet were also used.

Jessica said: “Hair jewellery can seem slightly macabre to modern eyes at first, but I think when you understand its purpose, it becomes incredibly touching.

“Photography wasn’t something everybody carried around in their pocket. A lock of someone’s hair was a physical part of the person you had lost, and incorporating it into jewellery allowed you to carry that person with you.

“These are some of the pieces that really stop me in my tracks because the history isn’t abstract. You know that somebody genuinely grieved for the person commemorated in that object.”

The shop also handles genuine antique Whitby jet, an organic material formed from fossilised wood. Jet from the Whitby coastline became internationally renowned for jewellery and was particularly associated with Victorian mourning.

Research is an important part of Jessica’s work. Hallmarks can indicate where and when an item was made, while makers’ marks, construction techniques and gemstone cuts can provide further evidence about its origins.

Names, dates and personal messages engraved inside rings and lockets can sometimes allow her to begin tracing the people connected with an item.

She said: “These tiny details are one of the reasons I always encourage people to look beyond the front of a piece of antique jewellery. Turn it over. Look inside it. Look at the hallmarks. Look for an inscription.

“The back of a brooch can sometimes tell you more than the front.”

Customers are also showing greater interest in the history behind the jewellery they buy, according to Jessica.

She said: “Of course, people still care about beautiful gemstones and precious metals, but increasingly we find people asking about age, provenance, symbolism and craftsmanship.”

Although tastes have changed during the family’s more than 45 years dealing in antique and vintage jewellery in Leeds, Jessica believes the emotions behind buying and giving jewellery remain familiar.

She said: “People still give rings to represent love. They still buy jewellery to remember important people and moments. They still hand pieces down through families.

“The difference is that when you’re holding a Victorian ring or an Edwardian brooch, you realise people were doing exactly the same thing 100 or 150 years ago.

“That’s what I find so compelling about antique jewellery. You’re not simply looking at an old object. You’re looking at a tiny piece of somebody’s life which connects us to a past which was so different from our reality now.”