Cartier Sapphire Pendant, ca. 1915
GUEST: This belonged to my husband's grandmother. She lived in Washington D.C. they were German Americans. My husband's grandfather was a, uh, sort of an entrepreneur in Washington D.C. And he would go to New York City from time to time and buy pieces of jewelry for her, and this was one of them. I believe it was probably for their 50th wedding anniversary. This would've probably been in the mid-'50s, I'm guessing.
APPRAISER: I looked at it.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: I was dating it, along with my colleagues at the table, for something that was made in the early 19-teens.
GUEST: (exhales) Really?
APPRAISER: He could've bought it old, though.
GUEST: It could've been...
APPRAISER: He could've bought an estate piece back in the '50s.
GUEST: True.
APPRAISER: Know anything about the maker of it?
GUEST: Well, um, I've noticed that there's a mark on it that says Cartier.
APPRAISER: Yes, it's Cartier New York.
GUEST: Ah.
APPRAISER: So it says "N.Y." right after the Cartier script. It's set with two beautiful sapphires. The main sapphire, which is the large sapphire on the bottom, it's approximately ten carats. It could be approximately 12, but it's hard to know exactly.
GUEST: Really? Wow.
APPRAISER: Yeah, it's bezel-set, so, conservatively, I'm saying it's about ten carats.
GUEST: Hm, interesting.
APPRAISER: It looks like a Ceylon stone, which is the region of where the stone is-- sapphire is from, which is now Sri Lanka. And Ceylon stones are usually powdery, more brilliant. They're lighter, they're not as saturated as the darker stones are.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: Um, and this is very apropos for this time period as well, the 19-teens, when they were mining a lot of these around that time period.
GUEST: Hm...
APPRAISER: And the smaller stone, I think is around three carats, approximation.
GUEST: Oh.
APPRAISER: Same material, though, the same saturation. The lighter, sort of more vibrant, brilliant color of sapphire. It's suspending from a beautiful necklace that is very, very fine. And it's platinum, and it's so fine that some of the little detail in there that you can see, like little, tiny wires.
GUEST: Hm.
APPRAISER: And that's appropriate for the 19-teens as well.
GUEST: Ah.
APPRAISER: It's also set with some small round-cut diamonds.
GUEST: Yes.
APPRAISER: Just little accent stones. It's really chic. I think a conservative value for insurance purposes...
GUEST: Mm-hmm
APPRAISER: ....would be $75,000.
GUEST: Okay, that's good. That's very good.
APPRAISER: We see a lot of nice things on ROADSHOW, but this is spectacular.
GUEST: Yes. Yeah, well, thank you.
APPRAISER: I love it.
$75,000 Insurance
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Understanding Our Appraisals
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.
