Raymond C. Yard Bracelet, ca. 1940
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GUEST:
I went to a garage sale, and I was looking for costume jewelry because I make magnets out of it and what have you. There was a box of costume jewelry, which I purchased for $15, but this bracelet just didn't fit into my scheme of things, so it was just kind of thrown in the bottom of one of my drawers and forgotten about for 20 years. My son has been into collecting gold, he looked at it and said, "It is 14 carat gold." But I always thought the bracelet was really ugly, so I never wore it.
APPRAISER:
It might not be for everybody. Somebody who loves birds could really love a bracelet like this. I think it was probably a custom order.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
These are English crystals. They're made out of a quartz rock crystal, and the crystal is carved from the back.
GUEST:
Oh, my gosh.
APPRAISER:
Then they take very fine paintbrushes, some as thin as a human hair, and they'll reverse paint into the cavity that they carved out. When you look at the crystal and you see the nice, vibrant colors, that's what we're looking for; we're looking for vibrant colors. The crystal is clear, so what happens is to make it pop and to get that nice color, they back it with a piece of mother of pearl. If these do get wet, which probably happened right here-- you see some water damage.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
But the other ones are pretty darn clean. This bezel could be opened up. You could take it out, you could clean it up, restore it, and put it back together. Judging from the type of metal work, the bezels and everything, I would say this was made probably right in that 1940s period. Here's the best part for me besides the beauty of the piece: it says "Yard." Now, that's Raymond C. Yard. At 13 years old in 1898, he was working for a famous house in New York City called Marcus & Co. He rose up through the ranks as a jewelry designer. He opened up in 1922 a store at 522 5th Avenue, Raymond C. Yard. He worked with people like Woolworth, Harriman, DuPont, Flagler. I mean, he had a big following with the wealthy and the elite.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
And he was known for taking a lot of pieces, like these English crystals, and doing custom work for clients. And that brings a lot to this bracelet. Now, we got to talk about a value. Any thoughts on that?
GUEST:
Well, just the price of the gold today, I figured it was worth a couple thousand.
APPRAISER:
Well, a couple thousand, yeah, it's... okay. At an auction, I figure this would go in the catalog for $6,000 to $8,000.
GUEST:
Oh, my gosh!
APPRASEIR: But certainly, by the time it gets to the retail market, and say it was sold on 5th Avenue again, like it probably originally was, a piece like this would easily be $15,000.
GUEST:
Oh my goodness! I guess I better start wearing this thing.
APPRAISER:
It's fun. Maybe you'll grow to like it.
GUEST:
I hope so. I'm liking it more and more. (laughter)
Appraisal Details
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