Review: Elena's necklace from The Vampire Diaries

I don't normally do this, but I am so so excited with this locket that I just have to share.

Have you heard of "The Vampire Diaries"? They are a series of books that have been made into a TV show. I am not a big fan although I watch it just for fun. In the show, the main character, Elena, is given a necklace as a way to protect herself from the influence of vampires - it's funny that the more the show goes on, the more useless this necklace is, as each vampire she comes across is more and more powerful and they do not seem affected by it. Here is a clip of the chapter in which Stefan gives it to her:

Pic of the show showing the locket

Anyway, as with every popular series, the merchandise pops up to please demanding fans. I have seen several models of lockets that are sold as "Elena's locket", but they are in no way similar to the one the character wears on the show. Some samples:

Locket with the series' logo. Available at the WB store. UPDATE: No longer available.

Locket with Stefan's crest. Available for sale on Amazon and the WB store. UPDATE: No longer available.

The CW store used to have this locket. As of today is sold out. Similar to the one in the show but somehow lacking.

I have also seen sellers that have reproductions of pieces of jewelry that appear in the show, some more faithful than others. There are also reproductions of the locket, but as they claim they are hand-made with precious metals, they charge accordingly (some up to $165). If you have this kind of money to spare, go to Etsy and peruse their creations.

However, if you are money conscious, you may want to visit eBay. There are reproductions over there too, and luckily for those of us not living in the US, some sellers ship worldwide. You'll find there official merchandise, as well as other jewelry such as Damon's or Stefan's crest, Caroline's ring, Katherine's cameo and Bonnie's amber necklace.

My locket came from djingang2009 (UPDATE: djingang2009 is no longer on eBay, but I suspect this seller is her). This seller has exact replicas of Elena's locket, for prices as low as $42. These are pictures of the actual locket I got from her (chain came included):

Compare to the one that appears in the show, shown above in the first pic, and you can see they are (at least to my eyes) perfectly identical, except that the one in the show has a patina to make it appeared aged - but that will happen to mine too if I don't polish it. I have taken it to a jeweler and he has confirmed that both the locket and the chain are sterling silver. It has a red stone (supposedly a garnet) in the front, and it is marked 925 in the back:

It opens, of course, and it snaps close very firmly. I don't think there is a risk of it opening unexpectedly. The inside is not polished to look shiny, it's kind of grainy:

A pic of it resting in my hand so you can see the size:

And it came very safely and well packaged in a lovely box, with a little bag full of (supposedly) vervain:

I do not plan on using it with the vervain. As for now, it will be empty, but I may end up putting a lock of my husband's hair inside.

The seller shipped it the next day I paid, and it took it only 12 days to reach me in Spain.

I had been looking for a nice silver locket for quite sometime, and after looking around, I found out that sterling silver lockets are in the range of $40-70, depending on the size and decorations or engravings. So I think that the price of this one is very reasonable. I also like the fact that it's unusually shaped and the design is out of the ordinary.

Even if one is not a big fan of the show, this is a very pretty piece to own, or to give as a gift to that special someone. I certainly could not be more happy.