Tiffany & Co. Peridot & Diamond Necklace, ca. 1910
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GUEST:
This was gifted to me by a woman that was in my church. She became very ill and had no family or anything, and we sort of took her into our family and took care of her. And she insisted that I take this piece as a gift. It's from the William Becker family. Becker had quite a big place in Bolton Lake, and he was the one that gave it to his wife, and his wife gave it to her cousin, and her cousin gave it to me. And that's how I came by it.
APPRAISER:
Bolton Lake, Lake George.
GUEST:
Bolton Lake. Millionaire Row, yes. He had a 40-room house. Of course it's all gone, but it was beautiful. It was beautiful.
APPRAISER:
And you showed me some great newspaper articles, and he owned the Sagamore Hotel, you say.
GUEST:
Yes, he did.
APPRAISER:
Among other things.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
He was from Manhattan, he lived in Manhattan.
GUEST:
Oh he did?
APPRAISER:
Yeah.
GUEST:
Oh, I didn't know that.
APPRAISER:
So it's 18-karat yellow gold.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
And then in the center you have what we call a peridot, peridots being green and very beautiful. They're not particularly expensive stones. It weighs about eight carats.
GUEST:
Oh, wow.
APPRAISER:
If you look at these stones that are set kind of freeform around the outside edge, they're diamonds, but they're not all white diamonds. They're mixed in color. You have some white, some yellow. You have some that are a little bit champagne.
GUEST:
Oh, my goodness.
APPRAISER:
So the way the gold wraps around it, the gold, the 18-karat and the diamonds, there's this little bit of movement in the design. I also want to show everybody this piece is just as beautiful from the back.
GUEST:
I agree.
APPRAISER:
Yeah, like so much good jewelry is. So if we flip it over, you can see all this beautiful cannetille type of wire work. It's all done by hand.
GUEST:
Really?
APPRAISER:
Very intricate, very beautiful. And very indicative of a few designers who were working in the late 1800s to the early 1900s in America. Now, I don't think anybody but you and I know who made this. Tell them, I'll show them.
GUEST:
I did find the little tag that said Tiffany Company.
APPRAISER:
In New York.
GUEST:
New York.
APPRAISER:
All right, but this piece goes a little further than that. I showed it to my colleagues, and we think you could attribute it to Louis Comfort Tiffany.
GUEST:
Oh, really?
APPRAISER:
The gent who made all the beautiful...
GUEST:
Great... father, yes.
APPRAISER:
Right. Now, he worked on his own and the two companies were always separate. There is a period where he comes under the same umbrella after his father dies. And Tiffany & Co., New York, is retailing items that he made under Louis Comfort Tiffany. So we feel it could be attributed to him.
GUEST:
Wonderful.
APPRAISER:
As far as the type of construction and when something like this was made, and we kind of look at the hallmark, we look at the design and everything. I would say probably around 1910. Also you just look at the stylized chain on the necklace. They're little cast sections, but they're all hand-made. Now, I talked to my colleagues. There are some people who feel it's 100% right. There are some people who question a little bit. In this day and age, you got to be very, very careful. There are great places to get things like this authenticated. Tiffany & Co. has great archives. Sitting here right now, attributing this to Louis Comfort Tiffany, retailed by Tiffany & Co., New York, I would say that this would auction for $20,000 to $30,000.
GUEST:
Holy moly! I don't believe it. Oh, my gosh. That... what a gift, huh?
APPRAISER:
A very nice gift.
GUEST:
Whoa. I might have to keep this for myself for a while now.
APPRAISER:
Yeah, you need to start wearing it.
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