Ballerina Brooch & Monogram Necklace
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GUEST:
Both of these pieces belonged to my great-grandmother. And I have always loved them, and I'm kind of curious about what they might be worth.
APPRAISER:
And your grandmother lived in Albuquerque?
GUEST:
No, she lived in New York City. She was born in New York City and lived there until she was 101.
APPRAISER:
This piece, this particular piece, what can you... what do you know about it?
GUEST:
That piece was made specifically for my great-grandmother. And originally it had another row of those... I think they're called cabochons?
APPRAISER:
Well, the piece was made by a company called Trabert, Hoeffer and Mauboussin. They were actually bought by the French company Mauboussin. This goes back to the '40s, and they designed a lot of jewelry actually for movie stars and quite famous people.
GUEST:
Oh, really?
APPRAISER:
This particular kind of jewelry made for customers was called reflections.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
The value of this necklace, because it's been repaired and sort of not in its original state is not going to be that high. It's probably going to be about $1,000 to $1,500, which may be disappointing or not. The piece that I do want to talk about is this beautiful ballerina. And do you know anything about it?
GUEST:
Yes, my great-grandfather had it made for my great-grandmother.
APPRAISER:
Do you know who made it?
GUEST:
My mother thought it was Tiffany's, but I don't know.
APPRAISER:
No, it's not Tiffany. It's actually Van Cleef and Arpels. Made by them, New York City. I just want to point out this head, the face of the woman is a rose-cut diamond. It's one diamond that's used for the face. And these are rubies and sapphires. The skirt is all pierced lace, the signature is right here.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
Very, very collectible. I'm going to give you a value on that piece, how's that?
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
What do you think?
GUEST:
I don't have a clue, because I don't know-- the diamond head I don't even know.
APPRAISER:
How's $8,000 to $10,000?
GUEST:
Sounds pretty good!
APPRAISER:
Now are you going to wear it?
GUEST:
I actually wear this piece more because this... I'm not even sure what you should wear it with.
APPRAISER:
Well, I think a dressy gown.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
Thanks for coming to the ROADSHOW.
GUEST:
Thank you.
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."
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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.
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