French Industrial Battleship Clock, ca. 1890
Watch
GUEST:
The first time that my wife saw it, she was on the board of directors of an elderly ladies' retirement facility. And if the women had some money, then they would charge them. If they didn't have any money, they could bring all of their possessions over there and the facility would take care of them. They would be on display. But then they started to do some remodeling and the keep... like these, the antiques, were disappearing. So they decided, the valuable stuff, let's sell it, and we'll work from there. They had two appraisers coming in, and both of them independently said, "I'll give you $1,000 for it." My wife said, "If they'll do that, it must be at least that. I'll pay the $1,000 and give it to me." The whole thing was rigged like this. And this chip there was on it, but it had been repaired just like that. I was always going to get a new one for it. And you know, it's very hard to find that kind of a thing.
APPRAISER:
Oh, that's the case. What you have here is a French industrial clock. During the latter part of the 19th century, this type of clock... I can't say it was popular because the numbers that we see of them are small. They were sort of showcasing new technologies at the time. You hardly can tell it's a clock. Here's the clock portion right here.
GUEST:
Yeah, that's it.
APPRAISER:
This particular clock is the battleship. In the industrial period on this clock, you have the time dial with the minute and hour hands. You have the barometer. Thermometer. And on the reverse side in addition to Celsius, it says Fahrenheit. But probably the neatest part is it's animated. These turrets as the clock is running will turn around in addition to the propeller. This rotating turret was a new innovation at that time; instead of having to turn the ship to fire, they had a rotating turret. To wind the clock, you pull the plug, insert the key over here to wind up the mechanism that's in the battleship itself. The beauty of a thing like this is that you have such crossover appeal. Not only is it a clock, but you have interest in the nautical side of it.
GUEST:
Sure.
APPRAISER:
Did you ever have it appraised after that $1,000 purchase?
GUEST:
I went to an antique dealer. He said, "I'll give you $6,500 for it."
APPRAISER:
Yes.
GUEST:
And so I said, "You know, I don't really think so." That was about, I'd say, '80.
APPRAISER:
Oh, okay, so that's 30 years ago. That doesn't surprise me at the time. This is an unusual model. It's just great with all the gilt work, the silver work, the Brazilian onyx base. You have the old dome, which is nice. This clock today, I would say that the retail price would probably be $45,000 to $50,000 clock.
GUEST:
(chuckling): Very interesting.
APPRAISER:
So it's gone up a little bit.
GUEST:
I like your words.
APPRAISER:
(chuckles) If the dome was perfect, it may increase the value another $1,000 or $2,000. 99 out of 100 of these are broken or gone completely. It's nice that you have it, even in a cracked state.
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.
Verbal approximations: The values given by the experts on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW are considered "verbal approximations of value." Technically, an "appraisal" is a legal document, generally for insurance purposes, written by a qualified expert and paid for by the owner of the item. An appraisal usually involves an extensive amount of research to establish authenticity, provenance, composition, method of construction, and other important attributes of a particular object.
Opinion of value: As with all appraisals, the verbal approximations of value given at ROADSHOW events are our experts' opinions formed from their knowledge of antiques and collectibles, market trends, and other factors. Although our valuations are based on research and experience, opinions can, and sometimes do, vary among experts.
Appraiser affiliations: Finally, the affiliation of the appraiser may have changed since the appraisal was recorded. To see current contact information for an appraiser in the ROADSHOW Archive, click on the link below the appraiser's picture. Our Appraiser Index also contains a complete list of active ROADSHOW appraisers and their contact details and biographies.
