Gold & Coral Bracelet, ca. 1870
Watch
GUEST:
I paid five dollars for the bracelet at a flea market in Virginia. I thought the design was very, very unusual. I think the bracelet's very beautiful. I was just wondering if it was very valuable or whether it was only worth five dollars.
APPRAISER:
When did you buy this piece?
GUEST:
I bought that about a year ago. I had this bracelet looked at by a jewelry shop where they buy gold. If it was gold, I thought about selling it. They made me an offer and then they retracted it. They made me something like a $625 offer and then they retracted the offer because they weren't really sure if it was solid 14-karat gold or not. They tested it with 14-karat and 18-karat acid, but they still didn't seem to be real sure about it.
APPRAISER:
Okay, well... It's beautiful, and that's a definite fact, and it's gold and that's another definite fact. We can see that they did test it. There's a file mark on the back of the bracelet. Unfortunately, they filed it where they shouldn't have.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
It could be restored to some degree. It will never be exactly perfect, but luckily they did it on the inside of the bracelet. Moving forward, if you take a piece to get tested for gold value, at a scrapper, it might be a good idea to have them test it on the tongue where it goes into the box clasp.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
Rather than on the body of the bracelet. When they cut through the exterior of the bracelet, because it's a bloom gold bracelet, they hit 14-karat gold. We tested it before. The piece seems to come up at around 15 karat. It's a bloomed finish, so it's a higher, brighter yellow on the outside.
GUEST:
Oh, I had never heard of a bloomed finish. Okay.
APPRAISER:
If you take a look at it, into the little cut area, you'll see that the gold underneath the surface is pinker than the gold on the exterior. The piece has been cleaned and it has been soaked in acids before the coral was put on and before this bright piece was applied, and that raises the surface assay right at the very surface, to an 18 karat or a higher...
GUEST:
Oh, interesting.
APPRAISER:
Higher finish. They offered you how much for it?
GUEST:
Around $620-something.
APPRAISER:
Okay.
GUEST:
It was about six weeks ago.
APPRAISER:
That's a reasonable offer when they have to pay their overhead. The bracelet weighs about an ounce and a quarter. I calculated that the scrap value here is around $1,000, but it's more than scrap. It is in fact a bracelet from the 1870s, or give or take. It's done in the archaeological revival style. I'm not really sure where this piece was made. It doesn't have any hallmarks on it. But it appears to be made by somebody who took their tutoring in England, or somebody who worked in England. The gems on it are coral buttons.
GUEST:
That's natural coral? I thought they seemed a little hard for coral, so I'm interested... that's interesting that they are coral.
APPRAISER:
No, they're natural coral, that's for sure. And if we take a look at it, the filigree work goes all the way around the bracelet. So the filigree work is concentric, which is an upgrade. Not all bracelets have work that goes all the way around the back. It's probably one of a pair originally.
GUEST:
Oh, really? Interesting.
APPRAISER:
They're pairs, they're worn as cuff bracelets, shirt cuffs, so they're worn on each wrist. I'm glad you didn't sell it for scrap.
GUEST:
Okay, thank you.
APPRAISER:
In an antique shop, I feel this piece of jewelry would sell for around $2,500.
GUEST:
Very good. That's wonderful.
Appraisal Details
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