Art Deco Platinum Diamond & Sapphire Bracelet Watch, ca. 1935
Watch
GUEST:
My mother's father's mother's sister was the wearer, bearer of the jewel. And her husband had it made for her as a custom gift, possibly in New York, sometime in the '20s or '30s, we're not sure.
APPRAISER:
Okay. Now, you had an appraisal on it.
GUEST:
Right. The appraisal was done for insurance purposes.
APPRAISER:
Yes. And how much was that for?
GUEST:
A little over $9,000, I believe.
APPRAISER:
That's a lot of money.
GUEST:
Oh, yeah. For sure.
APPRAISER:
First of all, it's not just a beautiful bracelet. It's also what?
GUEST:
A watch.
APPRAISER:
A watch, right. So if we turn it around, we can see the watch is right over here. It says "Banner."
GUEST:
Yes, sir.
APPRAISER:
Now, Banner Watch Company was one of many mom-and-pop watch companies. A lot of these types of watch bracelets, it wasn't about the watch. It was about the piece as a piece of jewelry.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
So a lot of people get hung up on who made the movement. It's not always that important. Banner was kind of a generic watch that was used in a lot of different types of jewelry. And to set it-- we can show everybody...
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
...you would pull this section out.
GUEST:
Yes, and wind the watch.
APPRAISER:
And wind the watch, correct. And then you would snap it back in. I find it very unusual, this form to be set in platinum. Because typically, this time period, you saw a lot of jewelry in yellow gold or in rose gold.
GUEST:
Ah.
APPRAISER:
This is 57 pennyweights of platinum. That's almost three ounces.
GUEST:
Wow, yeah.
APPRAISER:
That's a lot.
GUEST:
That's a lot of metal.
APPRAISER:
In the piece we have all these full-cut diamonds, about a carat total weight. I love the square cut and rectangular cut faceted sapphires.
GUEST:
Me, too.
APPRAISER:
You like them.
GUEST:
I love the sapphires.
APPRAISER:
So we have another carat in sapphires. Now, I just want to take it off and show everybody, because there's a design element here that's very Deco. And you see this beautiful swirl? It almost reminds me of a nautilus.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
Usually a clasp like this will lift up or down. This one has a built-in spring, and you pull it back, and it releases. And there it goes. And you can see an automatic safety. When you let it go, it goes right back over.
GUEST:
Wow, pretty creative.
APPRAISER:
Pretty creative. So they built a very solid clasp. Actually today, to replace this... because if you went out to look for one of these, you're not going to find one. Which means you would have to find a jeweler to sit down and make another one.
GUEST:
Ah.
APPRAISER:
So if you had to replace it today, we think it's somewhere around $25,000.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
And really not a penny less.
GUEST:
Wow.
Appraisal Details
Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.
Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."
Note the date: Take note of the date the appraisal was recorded. This information appears in the upper left corner of the page, with the label "Appraised On." Values change over time according to market forces, so the current value of the item could be higher, lower, or the same as when our expert first appraised it.
Context is key: Listen carefully. Most of our experts will give appraisal values in context. For example, you'll often hear them say what an item is worth "at auction," or "retail," or "for insurance purposes" (replacement value). Retail prices are different from wholesale prices. Often an auctioneer will talk about what she knows best: the auction market. A shop owner will usually talk about what he knows best: the retail price he'd place on the object in his shop. And though there are no hard and fast rules, an object's auction price can often be half its retail value; yet for other objects, an auction price could be higher than retail. As a rule, however, retail and insurance/replacement values are about the same.
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