Giuliano Bracelet, ca. 1860
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GUEST:
This is my great-grandfather, and he was Bishop of Peterborough and Archbishop of York, and he had this bracelet made for his wife. It follows the verses in the Bible in the book of Revelations about the city of God. The foundations are each decorated with a different stone. It starts with jasper and sapphire and goes on. The gates of the city are a single pearl, and the streets are paved in gold, and he used that as the theme to have this bracelet.
APPRAISER:
So it's clearly something that he thought about quite a bit, and it was a special order.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
Now, where was he living when he would have ordered this?
GUEST:
Peterborough.
APPRAISER:
So we think he ordered it, and it was manufactured in England.
GUEST:
As far as I know.
APPRAISER:
First, let's mention that it's 18-karat yellow gold. We have a lot of stones. We have jasper, sapphire, emeralds, sardonyx. We have topaz, beryl, chrysoprase, amethyst. I mean, it's got everything, and all the colors.
GUEST:
They're all listed in the Bible.
APPRAISER:
Right. We also have tucked in here these little natural pearls, which are not cultured, they're natural, so that's extremely nice little touch. Now you said there's some initials on the back. What were they?
GUEST:
I think it's C and AG.
APPRAISER:
Okay, so let's show everybody. And the initials are right here on the tongue. Now, you tried to look them up online.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
What did you come up with?
GUEST:
The controller and auditor general of India. That's not it.
APPRAISER:
Yeah, I don't think you got it.
GUEST:
No. (chuckles)
APPRAISER:
Being in the jewelry business, this is kind of like a little bit of a Holy Grail, all right?
GUEST:
Ah.
APPRAISER:
There was a jeweler named Carlo Giuliano. He apprenticed for Castellani in Italy. Soon after that, he left and he came to London and opened a shop. His sons Carlo and Arthur Giuliano, "C," "A," and "G"...
GUEST:
Ah.
APPRAISER:
The story comes together. Apprenticed with their dad and they continued his fine art of jewelry making. They were very much what we call revivalist jewelers. They worked in the Renaissance revival, they worked in archaeological revival. I think it's really neat that they pick up on all these elements. Now, this is very sought after in the jewelry world. At auction, this would be $15,000 to $20,000 today.
GUEST:
(chuckling) Well, that's more than I expected.
APPRAISER:
Is it, yeah?
GUEST:
Oh, yes. It's lovely and I've worn it, but it's the family connection that means a lot.
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