Verdura Flower Brooch, ca. 1954

Appraised on: July 8, 2006

Appraised in: Mobile, Alabama

Appraised by: Berj Zavian

Category: Jewelry

Episode Info: Mobile (#1110)

Originally Aired: March 26, 2007

IMAGE: 1 of 1  

Appraisal Video: (2:31)

GUEST: I found it at an estate sale in South Mississippi. I saw it, thought it was absolutely beautiful, and initially, even thought it was a costume piece.

APPRAISER: But you found out later that it was not?

GUEST: Right.

APPRAISER: Okay.

GUEST: I found out it was actually a fine jewelry piece.

APPRAISER: I want everybody to know what you paid for it.

GUEST: I paid $5,400.

APPRAISER: You know a little bit what you have?

GUEST: Yes, it's a Verdura brooch. According to the box that it was in, it's from 1954.

APPRAISER: Right. I'm an old-time jeweler, and I knew Mr. Verdura. He passed away in 1978, but he made some fabulous, fabulous jewelry. And he loved color. He loved insects. He loved flowers, and he was a 5th Avenue, upstairs jeweler. That to me is like the top of the line. And he also was a designer for Paul Flato. Paul Flato was a designer for Tiffany's.

GUEST: Oh.

APPRAISER: He apprenticed under him. So you have a Verdura flower pin here. Yeah, we can also, if we look it up, we can find out what year he made it in, because he has beautiful records. Now, in this particular piece, you have diamonds, which are all full cut, all set in platinum. You have emeralds, which are South American emeralds, which are green. They're not Colombian of the better grade, but they're very fine South American emeralds. It's 18-karat gold, and your amethysts are of the top quality of Uruguayan amethysts. They have that purple-blue in them, and Verdura, when he made this piece, he made it so beautifully. In the back here all these little set screws come apart so you can take the flowers off, repair it, and put it back together again.

GUEST: Yeah. Oh, how interesting.

APPRAISER: It's very easy for a jeweler to repair this, if it ever breaks. But he made it like a piece of rock.

GUEST: Oh. I have to go back and do some homework on it. I'm going to see how many he made of this.

APPRAISER: I don't think there's many, might be one or two. Now, a piece like this, if it came up for auction and we advertised it right, could easily sell anywhere from $25,000 to $35,000.

GUEST: Oh, my goodness. Oh, wow.

APPRAISER: It's like one of a kind. Everything is made by hand. Every little setting is, uh, put together systematically, and it's a beautiful bunch of flowers.

GUEST: Oh, well, thank you, I'm very happy.