Louis C. Tiffany Moonstone & Sapphire Brooch, ca. 1905
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GUEST:
The piece belonged to my grandmother. She was from Italy, and then New York City in about 1907. My grandfather, who purchased it, was the maître d' at the Waldorf Astoria. The Tiffany jewelers used to come in and he got to talking to them, and wound up at the store, and picked out this piece of jewelry for his wife.
APPRAISER:
This particular brooch is by Louis Comfort Tiffany, and it was done around the years that, uh, it was purchased, about 1905, 1910, around that sort of period. It's set with a cabochon moonstone with a wonderful color, probably a Ceylon stone in India, which is really where they were mining these wonderful stones, and it's set with Montana sapphires. The actual mine itself was owned by an English company. It was purchased by a company called Johnson, Walker, and Tolhurst in 1899 for $100,000, which is actually $3.1 million...
GUEST:
So...
APPRAISER:
...in today's money. So funnily enough, the majority of Montana sapphire jewelry you find is actually in English jewelry pieces.
GUEST:
So where was this piece probably made?
APPRAISER:
This piece is definitely made in America, with a filigree gold and platinum setting.
GUEST:
Ah.
APPRAISER:
So you got a yellow gold back, a platinum top. The filigree gold work is a very intricate detail. It's done with solder and pierced work to give it this very, very intricate sort of filigree light pattern.
GUEST:
And they do this twirl with it? And make it absolutely beautiful.
APPRAISER:
Yeah, they would twist it, and it's all, it was all done by hand. So the piece, it is signed on the back, Tiffany and Co. If you had to replace something like that today, in a retail setting, I'd say you'd have to spend around $18,000.
GUEST:
(gasps) Whoa. No, I had no idea.
APPRAISER:
So it's a, it's a wonderful thing.
GUEST:
None at all.
APPRAISER:
It's a wonderful thing.
GUEST:
I don't know...
APPRAISER:
And you told me you had a dream last night about the value. What was...
GUEST:
I did, I dreamt that you told me it was worth $660.
APPRAISER:
Well, it's a little bit more than that. (laughs)
GUEST:
On occasion, I've worn it to weddings.
Appraisal Details
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