Negligée Gemstone Pendant, ca. 1895
Appraised Value:
$10,000
IMAGE: 1 of 4
Appraisal Video: (1:45)
Appraisal Transcript:
GUEST: I was given this as a gift for my birthday about 15 years ago, and it was my daughter's great-great-grandmother's. That's pretty much all I know. She lived in New York.
APPRAISER: What we have here is called a negligée pendant.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: And a negligée pendant, it's two stones that are hanging asymmetrically from the top chain. This is a precious topaz...
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: and we also have a peridot...
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: and it's suspending from two small red spinels. And red spinel is a rare stone. It's... when it comes in red, it's especially rare.
GUEST: Oh, wow.
APPRAISER: And then we go up top to a sweet little heart-shape cabochon sapphire. The negligée pendant was popular around 1890 to about 1910, and they were always set with colorful stones and meant to be worn for sort of everyday purposes. But it really brightens up the face. It's meant to be worn close up to the neck.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: It's a fitted box, and I'm going to just move this here, and you can actually see the fitted area. It's in the original box, which adds to its value and adds to its cachet. These have become more and more popular over the years, mainly because of the color combination. I would say for insurance purposes, you would be looking at $10,000-- right around $10,000.
GUEST: Wow. Wow. Is retail the same as insurance?
APPRAISER: Retail is similar to insurance, so if you were to go out and buy this in a store today and replace it, you would have to spend around $10,000 for it.
GUEST: Wow, I had no idea. Really, that's amazing. I would never have thought that. It's crazy.
