Art Deco Jewelry Collection, ca. 1925
Watch
GUEST:
This was my grandmother's jewelry. She and my grandfather came to America in 1939. They left Italy. They were Italian Jews, and they left from the persecution of the Jews from Mussolini. And my grandmother was pregnant with my mom, and she wore a fur coat and lined the fur coat with the jewelry in their travels. They didn't have travelers' checks then, so...
APPRAISER:
(laughs) They just had jewels in fur coats.
GUEST:
Yes, yes.
APPRAISER:
And do you remember her wearing this at all?
GUEST:
I think that one of the rings was her wedding ring. I believe that was her wedding ring. And the other ones, no, I don't recall.
APPRAISER:
Okay. Well, this is a great collection of jewelry from the 1920s, so it's a great collection of Art Deco jewelry. None of it's marked, but it was probably manufactured in Europe, maybe in Italy. I'll just go through the pieces briefly, one by one. The first is this brooch, which is what we call a bar pin. And in the center is a beautiful step-cut, emerald-cut diamond. It's a beautiful diamond. By formula, it's about three carats. And then on either side are what we call old European cut diamonds, and those are about two carats each. And then under it is that beautiful necklace with the five drops. And this is all set with old European cut diamonds. And I loved... these very, very thin drops are called knife-edge, which is very typical of Art Deco jewelry, and it's wonderful to see an intact necklace. A lot of times, they're cut apart to make earrings, so it's great to have. It has a little bit of a condition problem here, where it's a little bit loose, and that needs to be fixed, but that should be a pretty quick fix. So these are two platinum and diamond rings. This ring is an old European cut diamond, and it's about two carats. And this ring is an old European cut diamond, about one carat. And then finally, there are the diamond earrings, which are each about a carat, and they might be a little earlier than the rest of the jewelry. Those might be maybe from the teens, or the very early '20s. If this came up for auction today, I would expect that the whole group would bring at least $30,000.
GUEST:
Oh, my goodness. (laughs) Yeah, that's extraordinary-- I hadn't expected that.
Appraisal Details
Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.
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."
Note the date: Take note of the date the appraisal was recorded. This information appears in the upper left corner of the page, with the label "Appraised On." Values change over time according to market forces, so the current value of the item could be higher, lower, or the same as when our expert first appraised it.
Context is key: Listen carefully. Most of our experts will give appraisal values in context. For example, you'll often hear them say what an item is worth "at auction," or "retail," or "for insurance purposes" (replacement value). Retail prices are different from wholesale prices. Often an auctioneer will talk about what she knows best: the auction market. A shop owner will usually talk about what he knows best: the retail price he'd place on the object in his shop. And though there are no hard and fast rules, an object's auction price can often be half its retail value; yet for other objects, an auction price could be higher than retail. As a rule, however, retail and insurance/replacement values are about the same.
Verbal approximations: The values given by the experts on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW are considered "verbal approximations of value." Technically, an "appraisal" is a legal document, generally for insurance purposes, written by a qualified expert and paid for by the owner of the item. An appraisal usually involves an extensive amount of research to establish authenticity, provenance, composition, method of construction, and other important attributes of a particular object.
Opinion of value: As with all appraisals, the verbal approximations of value given at ROADSHOW events are our experts' opinions formed from their knowledge of antiques and collectibles, market trends, and other factors. Although our valuations are based on research and experience, opinions can, and sometimes do, vary among experts.
Appraiser affiliations: Finally, the affiliation of the appraiser may have changed since the appraisal was recorded. To see current contact information for an appraiser in the ROADSHOW Archive, click on the link below the appraiser's picture. Our Appraiser Index also contains a complete list of active ROADSHOW appraisers and their contact details and biographies.
