Mother-of-Pearl Button Suit, ca. 1970
Watch
GUEST:
I brought my grandma's old dress. It's based off of the Pearly Queens and Kings.
APPRAISER:
Mm-hmm.
GUEST:
But instead of being called a Pearly Queen, she called herself Pearly Pat. She sewed every single button. I don't know how long she spent, but it seems like it'd take billions of years. She sewed everything onto this and then she got to wear it around to charity.
APPRAISER:
Mm-hmm.
GUEST:
This thing weighs at least 50 pounds.
APPRAISER:
It is very heavy.
GUEST:
She'd walk around outside. She'd do it for hours on end. She'd fundraise a lot of money for, like, hospitals, churches.
APPRAISER:
It's a a jacket and a skirt, floor-length skirt. And your grandmother did an amazing job of sewing all these mother-of-pearl buttons. And the suit itself, the basic black suit, probably dates to 1970. And it could have taken her years to complete the button pattern on it. You also said that she did it to raise money for charity, and another way that we know that is, on the back, in buttons, she spelled out, "All for Charity." So she was not only a very talented seamstress, with all this button work and making the designs-- she's got a fish and butterflies-- she was also a very generous woman. There's probably 1,000 buttons on this suit. It's a real showstopper. As you said, generally worn by the Pearly Kings and the Pearly Queens, who were predominantly known throughout England. There's not as much of that type of activity in this country. But they had these elaborate button-covered costumes. She's got some great figural buttons on here. There's a fish. There's a heart-shaped button. She's got a cross, a cat. The more you look at it, the more interesting things you can find. Her work is just really wonderful, and we think that an insurance value for something like this would be $2,000.
GUEST:
Wow, oh, wow.
APPRAISER:
Some of the buttons on the jacket have great value on their own. These very large ones on the front are probably worth almost $100 each. Some of the others on the back are $35. So, if you appraised it almost as a button collection, it would probably be between $1,000 and $1,500.
GUEST:
Wow, that's a lot of money for just buttons. If we brought her button collection, we'd probably have to fill up the whole car...
APPRAISER:
There's still more buttons-- you could make one. (laughs)
GUEST:
Oh, yeah, I definitely could.
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.
