William L. Gilbert Clock, ca. 1880
Watch
GUEST:
My mother purchased this about 70 years ago at a local antique shop to hang above the piano. And there was a picture of myself and my sister. I got the clock and my sister got the piano. There's a picture here of a woman, and she was bare-breasted, but my mother didn't want us children to see that, so she scratched them off. And she told me that about ten, 15 years ago.
APPRAISER:
Well, it is a pretty clock. It's a Victorian clock. Heavily carved, black walnut was the wood. It was made by the William L. Gilbert Clock Company, and they were in Winsted, Connecticut. 1880.
GUEST:
1880!
APPRAISER:
Now, I don't know if you notice the calendar hand is no longer on there, but these numbers, one through 31...
GUEST:
I had no idea...
APPRAISER:
...that was for a calendar. That was a-- indicated to me an upmarket clock, and wow, look at the case. And also, this is a crystal pendulum on here that's etched and then mirrored in the back. And not many clocks had that. This is an eight-day clock, strikes on the hour and the half-hour. The average Victorian parlor clock would sell, in an unrestored condition, for about $150 today. Your clock was better. I would say that the retail value, in unrestored condition, probably about $700.
GUEST:
Wow.
Appraisal Details
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Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."
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