I am photographing this wonderful watch fob today!! Here is the research I have found so far.
taken from http://recollections.biz/blog/?p=296If
During the Victorian era, articles made from hair might be made by a home crafter, a professional hair weaver, or a jeweler. They fit exactly with the romantic and sentimental trends of the day. While many pieces of hair work were memorial pieces – especially in the wake of the Civil War – hair work became a popular craft, also celebrating special events and happy times. Lady’s magazines printed articles on how to make useful and decorative items from hair. Watch chains, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and brooches were popular items, as well as jewelry which incorporated the locks of a loved one. Victorian school children sometimes collected locks of hair from classmates, and put them into small binders, along with the year and name of the persons who had contributed the hair.
I should from this world
Depart you’d have a bit of my
Hair my hand and heart if we
Could no more each other see
You could still remember me
Quoted in “ On Women and Friendship: a Collection of Victorian Keepsakes and Traditions” Starr Ockenga Stewart, Tabori & Chang- New York—
By recollections On October 25, 2011