Platinum & Diamond Waterfall Pin, ca. 1940
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GUEST:
The pin belonged to my grandmother, who lived in Chicago. I don't know where she bought it. I don't know what it's worth. I haven't worn it, and that's, that's all I can tell you, really.
APPRAISER:
And never had it appraised, did you?
GUEST:
Never had it appraised.
APPRAISER:
We love people like you when you come in here with that. (chuckles) Lack of information.
GUEST:
Lack of information, solid lack.
APPRAISER:
Right. (laughs) All right, so, first of all, you see, I'm just standing here, and it's moving.
GUEST:
In the wind.
APPRAISER:
Yeah. Is that fantastic?
GUEST:
It is lovely.
APPRAISER:
Imagine if you were dancing in, in 1940, because that's about when I think this pin was made.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
All right? Now, we keep referring to it as a pin.
GUEST:
But?
APPRAISER:
I don't-- I think the pin was added. I think it was always made to have some type of a chain running through it, and it hung as a necklace. Not that it doesn't work as a pin.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
It reminds me of a waterfall. I mean, the diamonds are truly dripping off of this, okay?
GUEST:
(chuckles)
APPRAISER:
There's a little over two ounces of platinum in the whole piece. All right? Then there's about four carats in baguettes. The marquise-shaped stones, there's a lot of them, and they're all different sizes. One of them is as large as a carat. You add them all up, there's nine carats in the marquise diamonds. So all together, we got 13 carats of goods, all right? Any thoughts on the piece?
GUEST:
Beautiful.
APPRAISER:
Beautiful, I like that. So you really don't need to know what it's worth.
GUEST:
I would like to know. (laughs)
APPRAISER:
Thought I'd get out of here. So I would say at auction, $15,000 to $20,000.
GUEST:
Great.
APPRAISER:
Not bad, right?
GUEST:
Not bad.
APPRAISER:
Yeah.
GUEST:
For a bunch of rocks. (both laugh)
APPRAISER:
That's great, I love it.
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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