GUEST:
I brought in a collection of Tennessee pearls that are found here in the rivers of Tennessee that's been handed down. Some of them came from my grandmother and my mother, and then some have been given to me through the years. I've always loved them. When I was in high school, I would every week save my lunch money, and on Fridays I'd buy a new Tennessee pearl for about two dollars and a half. And they kept them in a cigar box underneath the counter. They weren't even on display back in the '50s.

APPRAISER:
Huh. Two dollars and 50 cents.

GUEST:
Apiece.

APPRAISER:
And when you told me $2.50 originally, I'm thinking, "Gee, where'd she get $250 from back then?"

GUEST:
No, it was two dollars and 50 cents.

APPRAISER:
And then you have another story to share about these small ones, when you used to find them.

GUEST:
Oh, my grandfather... across from where we lived is a creek bed. And they used to go over there and find them and flip and see who could flip them the furthest across to get them across the creek bed.

APPRAISER:
The pearls, not the shells.

GUEST:
The pearls.

APPRAISER:
The pearls, unbelievable.

GUEST:
They treated them just like they were marbles.

APPRAISER:
Well, as you know, these don't come out of the Tennessee River very much anymore.

GUEST:
Not at all.

APPRAISER:
No. After the Tennessee Valley Authority built the dam and everything, the mussels started to disappear, right?

GUEST:
Yes.

APPRAISER:
Back in the day, I don't know if you remember as a kid, these mussels were everywhere, right?

GUEST:
Yes, the rivers were full of them here in Knoxville.

APPRAISER:
I mean, would they literally be there when you were swimming?

GUEST:
Or in the banks as you were walking along. You could seem them back in the '40s and when I was a child.

APPRAISER:
Typically, this is the size you find.

GUEST:
Oh, yes.

APPRAISER:
You know, some people say they almost look like teeth.

GUEST:
Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER:
Of course, with these, as they get larger, they get to be more expensive.

GUEST:
Right.

APPRAISER:
But also sometimes they can get very large like this, and they get very baroque, and they get all different kinds of colors. They're beautiful, but they're not necessarily more money.

GUEST:
Right.

APPRAISER:
Now, this one's extra special to you right here.

GUEST:
Oh, that one is my high school graduation, from my parents. Mother and Daddy gave me that.

APPRAISER:
Oh, that's beautiful.

GUEST:
That was the first pink one I ever saw.

APPRAISER:
Well, that's interesting you said pink, because while we're looking at them, they come in all different colors and hues.

GUEST:
Right.

APPRAISER:
And pink is rather desirable, what we sometimes call rose.

GUEST:
Yes.

APPRAISER:
And also we have this nice one in the center.

GUEST:
Oh, it has a special meaning. It used to be on a bar. But the reason it's off is when my daughter Maxie got married, we took it off and sewed it in the top of her wedding dress, in the V.

APPRAISER:
How sweet.

GUEST:
They all have got family attachments to them.

APPRAISER:
That's fantastic, and it's so nice you held on to them. Now, I know when I tell you that the ones you bought for two dollars and 50 cents, these pearls today could go for $300 and $400 each. You add up the whole necklace, and there's $1,200.

GUEST:
Wow.

APPRAISER:
Yeah. I mean, two dollars and 50 cents each.

GUEST:
That's right. That's wonderful.

APPRAISER:
And I know the money's really not going to mean a lot to you, but there is a value to these, because they're rare. The one that you got here, with the rose...

GUEST:
Yes?

APPRAISER:
...could be $2,000 today.

GUEST:
Wow.

APPRAISER:
This one over here could easily be $1,500.

GUEST:
Ooh.

APPRAISER:
These smaller ones are not that expensive. You could probably buy the whole bar pin for $200. And one like this, as big as it is, it's fun, but it's a $1,000 pearl. Now, there's another $500 in the gold and everything around it, but we're kind of concentrating on the pearls. But when you look at the collection, there's $6,500 here.

GUEST:
Ooh.

APPRAISER:
You know, at auction, for something like this.

GUEST:
I have a daughter and a granddaughter. They're going to stay right there.

APPRAISER:
And for me, it was the stories you had that made this trip over here worthwhile.

GUEST:
Well, thank you.