Charlton & Co. Bracelet & Brooch
Appraised Value:
$23,000 - $34,000
IMAGE: 1 of 1
Appraisal Video: (2:41)
Appraisal Transcript:
GUEST: My grandmother passed away about 10 or 12 years ago and I inherited them.
APPRAISER: Okay.
GUEST: The horseshoe piece was given to me on my wedding in 1988. I don't know too much about them, but they have a lot of sentimental value.
APPRAISER: Well, you know, of course, the symbol of the horseshoe is good luck, and you wear the horseshoe upright so the luck doesn't fall out of the horseshoe.
GUEST: Absolutely.
APPRAISER: What you've brought here today are two very, very beautiful examples of jewelry. The horseshoe brooch dates early 1900s. It's actually engraved on the back with a dedication date of 1910. And so we know that this is just around circa 1900. And this was a very, very popular motif at the period. Your bracelet is platinum and diamond and sapphires. It dates from a little later. This would be dated from the late 1930s to early 1940s. They are both by the same maker. They were both made by a company in New York called Charlton & Co. And Charlton was a very high-end, respectable Fifth Avenue jeweler up until, I believe, the early 1950s. They always made a beautiful product-- beautiful craftsmanship, stone setting. Really lovely, lovely pieces. And so both of these examples exemplify the work of Charlton & Co. in New York. What is interesting is that the sapphires here, these are what are called sugarloaf cab sapphires. They're rather unique. The sugarloaf cab is essentially a square-bottomed pyramid with four sides that curve upright. And so what they've done is they've set actually four of these sugarloaf cabs together in this block to create this sort of background of color.
GUEST: Oh, okay.
APPRAISER: And yet, when you wear this, and the way the light undulates through the stones, it has sort of an effect of like a blue jellybean, you know?
GUEST: Yeah, yeah.
APPRAISER: So it's quite nice. I've actually never seen the usage of the sugarloaf cabs in this arrangement. Now, I want to just show the back here also, because this is where the signature is on the bracelet. And this signature is signed "Charlton." Have you ever had these appraised or have any idea of the value?
GUEST: No, no.
APPRAISER: Well, the horseshoe brooch, at auction, would have a presale value of between $3,000 and $4,000. The bracelet, on the other hand, because of its unique usage of the sapphires, its great design, high desirability, I would put an estimated auction at between $20,000 and $30,000.
GUEST: Ooh, okay. Nice.
APPRAISER: Is that a nice surprise?
GUEST: Very nice. Very nice. Thank you.
