Russian Gold Cuff Bracelet, ca. 1870
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APPRAISER:
You brought this piece to be appraised, which was your mother's.
GUEST:
Oh, yes. She was a collector of jewelry, and this was a fabulous piece. She told me it came from Siberia.
APPRAISER:
What was your mother doing in Siberia?
GUEST:
Well, as a teenager, she was with my father at the time, and they were traveling the world on their expedition to create a world peace.
APPRAISER:
Yes.
GUEST:
They stayed with families in each country, and in Siberia, they stayed with a nice family there. And on departure, they dug this up from where they were hiding their precious things. So they gave this to Mom.
APPRAISER:
I tested it with jeweler's acid, which is how we can do it when it's not marked. And it is solid 18-karat gold and... Quite substantial.
GUEST:
Heavy, and the weight, yes.
APPRAISER:
I don't have a scale that goes this high for gold. I would say it's at least a quarter of a pound of 18-karat gold. But the work is extraordinary. I also pored over this bracelet, looking for a Russian mark. There's absolutely nothing on it to indicate a country of origin, which is not unusual in antique jewelry. They just didn't always mark things. This is what would be called properly a cuff bracelet.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
It's a hard bracelet that's hinged with a catch. And the motif is a buckle. And the buckle is applied, but in matching decoration. There's engraving of flowers beneath the buckle.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And if we spin it around, we will see engraving on the underside, or the back of the bracelet. And this has a crane and a swallow, which was a favorite Victorian motif, and a floral design. So we have a very wide, heavy, important 18-karat-gold bracelet, which I would date from the 1870s.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
In the retail environment, a bracelet like this would easily command $12,000.
GUEST:
Mm.
APPRAISER:
In a retail store specializing in fine antique jewelry such as this.
GUEST:
How interesting. But at auction, it might... pull in more.
APPRAISER:
Could be more at auction, could be less. One never knows, though. Depends on who's there that wants to fight over it that day.
GUEST:
Yeah, well, it's so bloody unique.
APPRAISER:
Yeah, it is unique.
Appraisal Details
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