Sapphire & Diamond Ring, ca. 1940
GUEST: This is my mother's ring. She got it from my father, probably in the late '60s or early '70s. Our neighbor was a jeweler in a small town in New Jersey. My father just walked downtown one day and came back with this for my mother. It wasn't her birthday. It wasn't a holiday and it's always been a puzzle.
APPRAISER: So why do you think he bought it for her?
GUEST (chuckling): I think he felt guilty about something in his past.
(laughter)
APPRAISER: Oh.
GUEST: I think he was making amends.
APPRAISER: (chuckles) What would you like to know about the ring?
GUEST: Well, I don't know-- is it real? (chuckling): Because it's a large stone.
APPRAISER: It is real. It is a real sapphire.
GUEST: Good to know.
APPRAISER: And it's a really beautifully cut, old cushion cut stone. It's mounted in platinum and it's framed by old single cut diamonds. I think the ring was made probably in the 1940s.
GUEST: Wow!
APPPRAISER: And it's very pretty. There are no hallmarks that would tell us who made it or where it's from. However, based on the style, I would suspect that it was probably made by a high-end jewelry maker in New York City. In order to determine where it was mined, we would have to send it out to a laboratory. But that cut and color, it's very typical of sapphires that we see that have been mined out of Ceylon or modern-day Sri Lanka.
GUEST: Oh.
APPRAISER: I would be comfortable saying that it's a Ceylon or Sri Lankan sapphire. It's very clean. When you look at it under magnification, you really don't see any inclusions. And I did a weight by formula, and it's coming out to be about 7-and-a-half carats.
GUEST: Wow, that's exciting.
APPRAISER: So it’s a nice size. Now, what was your mother like? Did she wear it?
GUEST: She did when she went out to dinner.
APPRAISER: Mm-hmm.
GUEST: She was never a showy woman. My father was not extravagant with gifts, so this is really a big surprise.
APPRAISER: Any idea what he might have paid for it?
GUEST: No idea. But this was a good friend and a neighbor.
APPRAISER: Mm-hmm.
GUEST: And maybe he called my father and said, "Ed, get down here. I've got the ring for you to give your wife." (chuckles) Long-suffering wife. He was a straight up guy. I think he just knew that he was sometimes difficult.
APPRAISER: As you might know, with sapphires, they are very often heat-treated in order to enhance that color. So you would have to send it to a laboratory in order to determine that, which for a couple of $100 I would recommend doing because then you would know for sure. If it's heat-treated, you'd be in the $5,000 to $10,000 range.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: If it is not heat-treated, we'd be in the $15,000 to $20,000 range at auction.
8:47 GUEST: Wow. That is excellent.
$5,000 - $20,000 Auction
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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.
