Opening and Closing a Photo or Memory Ball Locket

A Photo Ball is an exquisite way to keep lots of loved ones close to heart.  These gorgeous little ball pendants 'unfold' to open and reveal the secrets inside. Photoball or memory ball lockets are available in several different designs but the opening mechanism is basically the same for all.

All lockets or opening jewellery have finely tuned fastening mechanisms and must be treated with care. Too much force can cause delicate hinges to break or lockets to be knocked out of alignment. Lockets worn on longer chains swing around more and may face the risk of banging against desks, tables or people! A hard bang - or even a soft bang in just the wrong place - may affect the locket alignment. 

 

Worn with care, photoball lockets will be opening and closing to reveal the secrets of the generations for generations and we have some tips for opening and closing a photoball locket that will ensure you are enjoying your stunning pendant for many years to come.

 

 

What are the parts of a photo ball locket called?

Locket - includes the entire pendant with all of the components listed

Discs - are the flat round 'pages' folded inside the locket to display engraving or photos

Hinges - are the way the discs and locket top and bottom are connected to each other.  Hinges usually only fold one way so it is important not to force it to fold the other way, or open too far, or it will break.

Arms - are the curved bands outside the photoball that hold the whole thing together. The fine ends of the arms are slightly hooked and the arms are carefully aligned so that once they have been softly pressed into the holes at the base of the locket, the weight of the ball holds them in place. 

Holes - are the two little round spaces on the bottom of the locket where the end of the arms rest.  Sometimes the arms will make a clicking noise as they go in the hole but sometimes they don't.  As long as the end of the arm is sitting in the hole the locket should remain closed.

 

Opening a photoball locket

Hold the photoball upside down and gently place your thumbnail as close to the end of the arm where it is inserted into the hole to pry it open without bending the arm. 

If you try opening from the top of the locket instead of the bottom you may place too much pressure on the locket arm and it could bend out of shape.  

 

 

  

Closing a photoball locket

Once the discs of the locket have been folded neatly (the right way) back into place, closing the arms of the locket is simply the reverse of the opening process. 

Hold the photoball upside down and gently guide the ends of the arms back into the holes by placing your finger or thumb on top of the arm as close as possible to the end of the arm near the hole and pressing it softly into the hole. 

 

 

 

How to fix a photoball locket out of alignment

In the rare case of a photoball locket arm being slightly pushed out of shape it is usually a simple matter to gently coax it back in to place but take care not to bend it too far or you may break it. 

If you are not comfortable realigning a photoball locket arm yourself, a jeweller will be able to do this for you in a very short time. 

Understanding how to open and close your locket properly in the first place means you should never need to face this situation and you and your photoball locket will live happily ever after!