Platinum & Thai Sapphire Ring, ca. 1935
GUEST: It was my grandmother's ring that she bought in 1935. Her diary, I have an entry that she purchased it in...Bangkok, Siam, which is now Thailand.
APPRAISER: Thailand.
GUEST: But I don't know if that was the stone or the setting that she purchased then, because I also have some family lore that she maybe got it in Ceylon, which is now Sri Lanka. That part is one of my question marks, as is the actual setting, which I know is platinum. I'd heard it might have been a Tiffany's setting from London or Paris Tiffany's at that time, but I couldn't find it in her journal to confirm that. I just always heard that from my father.
APPRAISER: Yeah. So what year did it actually come into your possession?
GUEST: I think I've had it about ten years.
APPRAISER: Do you wear it?
GUEST: (soft chuckle) I would love to wear it. I tried to get it sized up to be able to wear it, but the very respected local jeweler said he wouldn't even touch it until I had an appraisal. I have a little note that said it was appraised in 1951, but I don't have the appraisal. I don't know what. But I do have a-a verification from a lab that it's a natural sapphire.
APPRAISER: Well, that's very important in today's world. Everyone wants natural color.
GUEST: Yes.
APPRAISER: And you have a very early cert from the G.I.A., 1969. That is one of the earliest colored stone certs (laughs) in America, (laughs) and I have never seen one from the G.I.A, from that period. So that, to me, is very, very interesting. And they give a dimension. They don't give a weight.
GUEST: Yeah.
APPRAISER: I measured it, and I'm coming up with around 15 plus carats.
GUEST: Oh, wow.
APPRAISER: So...
GUEST: That's wonderful.
APPRAISER: ...it's a big boy.
(both laugh)
APPRAISER: And it's a beautiful stone. What's interesting about a sapphire is usually, they are not emerald-cut. It's very hard to get a brilliant emerald-cut. This is a classic American Art Deco mounting. It looks like the Chrysler Building. So it's pure period American Art Deco from the mid-1930s. So the mounting, as you know, is all platinum. It's marked platinum, but the shoulders are all engraved platinum. There's no other diamond in it. This stone can stand by itself. Now, of course, values change by country of origin. Without a country of origin certificate...
GUEST: Mmm.
APPRAISER: ...I cannot tell you really what country it came from. But I'm going to-- let's just say it's Ceylon.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: Uh, if it's a Ceylon, it's worth at least $10,000 a carat. If it's a Burma, it's worth $20,000 a carat. Now, if you hit the jackpot and it's a Kashmir, you're looking at $50,000 a carat. So this ring, the lowest value at auction is $150,000 to $250,000.
GUEST: (laughing): Oh, my gosh.
APPRAISER: If it's a Burma, you're at $300,000. If it's a Kashmir, you're at $750,000.
GUEST: (laughs)
APPRAISER: So are you wearing it?
GUEST: (laughing): I mean... uh... I guess I would have to have a very special occasion to put that on.
APPRAISER: Yeah.
GUEST: But, uh, wow.
APPRAISER: Yeah. And once we can determine the country of origin, then you would, could have it insured.
GUEST: Yeah.
APPRAISER: And then worn, or not.
GUEST: Gotcha. (laughs)
APPRAISER: Well, I think you're a lucky gal.
GUEST: Wow.
APPRAISER: This is a fabulous ring, a fabulous stone.
$150,000 - $750,000 Auction
In the fall of 2024, the guest in this segment reached out to appraiser Gloria Lieberman to begin the process of selling her ring. Through that process, Gloria sent the ring to a lab to ensure proper certification of the stone prior to selling. However, the test results came back with a surprising twist — the sapphire in the ring is not Ceylonese, nor Burmese, nor Kashmiri, as Gloria suggested it might be in the appraisal. In fact the sapphire is Thai. According to Gloria, this news would unfortunately bring the ring’s value down to $40,000. According to Gloria, labs are getting more and more specific in their ability to determine a precious stone's exact geographical origin. She added that such a precise determination would not have been possible even a few years ago.
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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.
