Cognac Diamond Ring, ca. 1920
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GUEST:
My grandfather, who died before I was born, bought it on the street in New York. Bought it, I heard, from, uh, a refugee, somebody right after the war, and brought it to my grandmother, told my grandmother that it was a yellow diamond or a canary diamond...
APPRAISER:
Uh-huh.
GUEST:
And my grandmother, when she gave it to me a few years ago, said that she had never had it appraised. She didn't know if it was in fact a diamond. She just really liked it and she wore it often.
APPRAISER:
And have you ever worn it?
GUEST:
No, it's...it's not quite me, but...but I like it, I like to look at it in the box.
APPRAISER:
Okay, it's a wonderful diamond. The mounting was made around 1920, but let's talk about the diamond first. It's approximately six carats. It would be classified as a yellowish-brown diamond, more commonly known as a cognac-colored diamond.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
Having a little bit more brown than yellow, therefore not being a canary diamond. A canary diamond would truly be the color of the canary bird, although still a desirable, pretty ring. The mounting itself is Art Deco. We have in here some triangular-cut diamonds, kite-shaped diamonds, and half-moon diamonds, which makes it really very interesting. They're very typical stones cut in the Art Deco time period. And it's surrounded by pavÈ-set diamonds right around the center diamond itself, "pavÈ-set diamond" meaning set very close together.
GUEST:
One time I went into a jewelry store and they said, "Well, this is yellow. Nobody wants a yellow diamond." I was so embarrassed.
APPRAISER:
Well, in the market today, this piece would bring approximately between $12,000 and $15,000.
GUEST:
Wow, that's great to know.
APPRAISER:
You should take it out and wear it at parties every once in a while.
GUEST:
Well, you know, I think of her and I never knew my grandfather, but it's a great story, so... Thank you, thanks very much.
APPRAISER:
You're welcome.
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