Late Victorian Gold Vest Chain & Watch Fob, ca. 1885
Watch
GUEST:
It was my late husband's, and he, I believe, acquired it from his father, who came from England in 1920. He was born in 1910. I didn't know that he had it, we never talked about it. We weren't married for a very long time, and he died suddenly. And I went through his things and I found it and I didn't know what it was.
APPRAISER:
The chain is 14-karat gold.
GUEST:
Well, that's good.
APPRAISER:
Of course, we know gold is one of the highest prices that it's been in years, and we expect it to keep going up. And right at the time we're filming now, gold is at about $1,200 an ounce. That's for pure gold. Now, this chain is 14-karat gold. And that means it's a little more than half gold. The other half is metals they added to make it hard enough to be for jewelry. It's not from England. Surprisingly, it's American. So, somehow your husband's family ended up with an antique, late-Victorian American vest chain, even though they were English. There's a locket down at the bottom. It has a crystal on it, and this opens up. This part was the watch fob. The fob is what hung outside of the vest of the man's suit, and that's what they showed off. And this kind of locket, generally, if they could find one, they'd put a four-leaf clover in it and pressed it flat between the glass and it would magnify in that dome. The rest of this is a vest chain with very fancy links. And this is what the gentleman wore for his pocket watch. But I'm going to undo it. These are very desirable and hard to find with such beautiful links. Think about this-- I'm going to show you something. If we click this into this... and I'm going to reach down and get a necklace stand and do this. Ladies love men's antique vest chains to wear as a beautiful old gold necklace.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
In retail value, it's between $4,000 and $5,000 for this necklace.
GUEST:
Are you serious?
APPRAISER:
If you were going to keep it as an heirloom and insure it, absolutely. Minimum of $5,000 insurance to replace this chain.
GUEST:
Wow, I can't believe that. It's like... wow.
Appraisal Details
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