This type of top-latching "padlock" clasp was often used to secure a Victorian Scottish-style bracelet. In 1848, after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert purchased Balmoral Castle in the Highlands of Scotland, Victoria was enchanted with all kinds of designs from the area. She commissioned jewelry incorporating indigenous stones (often called "Cairngorm", after the Scottish mountain they were mined from.) Once HRH - the arbiter of 19th century style - was seen wearing these Scottish jewels in London, fashionable Victorian women high-tailed it to the nearest jeweler to get a piece of Scottish jewelry of their own.