Carson Kressley: Edwardian Diamond & Platinum Horseshoe Brooch
APPRAISER:
Tell me about this pin and how you come to own it.
GUEST:
During quarantine and isolation, I was very bored, and I started searching online auction sites. So I had wanted to get a pin like this for my sister, and sometimes when you compete in a horse show, you wear a small lapel pin that is like that, and I thought, "This is perfect, it's been on my list." I didn't know it was going to be that big!
APPRAISER:
(laughs) So it is large. First thing I did is, I took out my ruler and I measured it.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
So two inches by one-and-three-quarter inches.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
So nice size. Do you know how horseshoes come to be known as a good luck trinket or item?
GUEST:
No, I know that this is probably, like, from the Victorian era, and there was a lot of horseshoe items, even if you weren't a horse person, because of the good luck idea, but I don't know why they're considered lucky.
APPRAISER:
The story that we're going to go with today…
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
All right? Here you go.
GUEST:
Yeah, sock it to me.
APPRAISER:
St. Dunstan, who is a blacksmith, but eventually becomes the archbishop of Canterbury.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
All right? He's forging away, in a barn like this...
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
...making horseshoes. And the devil shows up and says, "I need horseshoes."
GUEST:
(gasps) Okay.
APPRAISER:
St. Dunstan sees an opportunity. He puts horseshoes on him, red-hot, he nails them in, and tight. The devil starts howling in pain. "Get these off of me."
GUEST:
Uh-huh. Okay.
APPRAISER:
He looks at the devil and says, "On one condition." Anywhere that a horseshoe is hung, you will not bring your evil to this place."
GUEST:
Mm. Interesting.
APPRAISER:
Hence the legend of the horseshoe being good luck.
GUEST:
Okay. I didn't know the devil wore horseshoes. I thought he wore Prada.
APPRAISER:
(laughing)
GUEST:
Gosh, I'm learning so much. The ROADSHOW’s so educational.
APPRAISER:
I gotta tell you, I saw it from far away.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And I too thought it was Victorian.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
Now, if it was Victorian, it most likely would have been either a platinum top in a yellow gold base.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
Or early Victorian, it would have been yellow gold base with silver on top.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
All right? It's platinum. Which tells me it's probably not Victorian.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
...But Edwardian. Probably 1910. It weighs just under half an ounce. There's 43 European-cut diamonds in it. There's five carats of diamonds in the whole pin.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
All right?
GUEST:
Okay, that's more than I Imagined.
APPRAISER:
Well, before I give a price…
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
...should I ask what you paid for it?
GUEST:
It was one of those online auctions, and it was, like, $450, and then it was, like, "Oh, my gosh, this is the bargain of the century." And then by the time the auction closes, it's up to what it probably should be. And I think I paid around $1,500 for it.
APPRAISER:
You got a really good deal.
GUEST:
Did I?
APPRAISER:
Yeah.
GUEST:
Okay, good.
APPRAISER:
You really did. If I had estimated this for an auction...
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And you said you just bought this recently.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
I would have put this in for not a penny less than $2,000 to $3,000.
GUEST:
Okay. Great.
APPRAISER:
To get a brooch, you know, this big.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
If you walked into a retail establishment to buy this…
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
...I mean, I think you're looking at $4,000 to $5,000.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
So you made a nice little score online.
GUEST:
I did! I'm a savvy shopper, who knew?
APPRAISER:
(laughing) Excellent.
Appraisal Details
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