Agassiz Pendant Watch, ca. 1905
Watch
GUEST:
It was my mother's. A friend of hers who was a jeweler said to her, "I have a great piece. I think you should see it and tell me if you like it." And she said yes, so she got the piece, and she was very happy with it.
APPRAISER:
And did she wear it a lot?
GUEST:
She didn't wear it a lot because it's an unusual piece, and sometimes it's difficult to get the correct dress wear to go with it. But she did enjoy it when she did wear it.
APPRAISER:
And have you worn it many times?
GUEST:
Actually, no. (laughs)
APPRAISER:
Okay, well, it's a pendant watch on a chain. It's made out of 18-karat gold and platinum. It was made by the company Agassiz, which is one of the premier Swiss manufacturing companies that made watches during the early part of the 1900s. Back during that period you had Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin. Agassiz was in the upper end of the, say, second tier. It wasn't Patek or Vacheron, but it was almost the same.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
And they did a lot of really fine ornamental jewelry work. They did a lot of very, very fine, ultra-thin pieces. This movement, as you can tell by looking at it, has to be incredibly thin, considering there's the back of the case, a dial, a face, a crystal.
GUEST:
Oh, yeah.
APPRAISER:
Agassiz was noted for making spectacularly fine mechanical movements. Agassiz, like a lot of the manufacturing companies of the 19th and earlier 20th century is no longer around as a watch company today. And it looks like wherever it was from 1905, 1910 till your mom got it, it was virtually unused. It's a dark cobalt blue enamel, which is the finest color. This rich blue is the most desirable. It has guilloché work, and that guilloché work is an engine turning or almost an engraving into the metal, and then the enamel is laid into it. So it has that swirl look to it, which people love. All the white is actually platinum, and it's completely set with rose-cut diamonds. Rose-cut diamonds are flat on the bottom and only have facets on the top. And they were used a lot in ornamental jewelry during that period. The condition is near perfect, and it just has an unbelievably great Edwardian era look to it. The filigree, the hand-done work with the platinum is just magnificent. In the marketplace today, in the retail level, a piece like this would easily sell in the $10,000 to $12,000 price range.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
It's quite a spectacular piece. You definitely should wear it out to dinner and have some fun with it.
GUEST (laughing): I will, I will. Well, thank you very, very, very much.
APPRAISER:
Sure.
GUEST:
I really appreciate it.
APPRAISER:
When you opened that box, I was like, "Yes!"
GUEST:
(chuckling): Really?
Appraisal Details
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