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19th-Century Micromosaic & Cameo Jewelry

Value (2005) | $15,000 Auction – $20,000 Auction

GUEST:
These were part of my mother-in-law's estate, who passed away in Boston two or three years ago. The beneficiaries had to bid on the jewelry. And I found this piece real interesting because of the look of it. I wasn't sure if it was costume jewelry or real. And then the cameos-- I'd never seen cameos with warriors' heads, so... Most cameos, you tell me, were ladies. And these are men. And I wasn't quite sure the way they were designed what they were, if they were pins or earrings or what.

APPRAISER:
This is hard-stone cameo. It's black-and-white onyx. And the stones were cut roughly about 1905, 1910 in the Idar-Oberstein-- it's in Germany. The frame is enamel made in the United States. It's gold, but they're fairly new, somewhere around 1920s. And if you notice, these two are lefts and rights, and they are pins. But they were not originally pins; they were earrings.

GUEST:
Oh, they were?

APPRAISER:
Yeah, somebody put the catch pin and joint on there. The value on these is somewhere around $3,000 at auction.

GUEST:
Oh, good, okay.

APPRAISER:
Then you hit me with this great mosaic piece. You know it's micromosaic.

GUEST:
I knew it was mosaic, but I didn't know anything about it-- I don't even know if it's gold.

APPRAISER:
It's gold. What did you pay for that when you bought it from the estate?

GUEST:
Um, we paid $650.

APPRAISER:
You had to bid on it.

GUEST:
Yes, we had to bid on it.

APPRAISER:
Okay, this is religious micromosaic, and it's high-karat gold. It could be 19-, 20-karat gold. It's not 18-karat. The whole thing is made in Italy. Now, when I first saw it, you shook me down to my core... because this little hallmark down here. I thought it was Castellani-- he was a great Italian jeweler. It's not Castellani. Then I thought it was Giuliano, one of his contemporaries. It's not. Now, it does say on there "EPF." Those are the initials in that little cartouche. I looked it up; I couldn't find it, but it's somewhere in the books, and we have to do some more research on it. But it's in the period of Castellani and Giuliano-- 1860, 1870.

GUEST:
Oh, my God.

APPRAISER:
Another nice thing about this... is the chain. This chain is today what we call BX cable, electric chain-- it's made the same way. This thing here moves back and forth, and it's done with little twisted wires. It's amazing that you got this for $650, because this is worth somewhere between $15,000 and $20,000. So, therefore...

GUEST:
Oh, my gosh...

APPRAISER:
This is worth... 15,000 to 20,000 at auction, and on a good day, it could go higher.

GUEST:
That is unbelievable. And I thought it was costume jewelry.

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Appraisal Details

Appraiser
Berj Zavian
Jewelry
Cluster Jewelry
New York, NY
Appraised value (2005)
$15,000 Auction – $20,000 Auction
Featured In
Tampa, Hour 3 (#1003)
Event
Tampa, FL (June 25, 2005)
Category
Jewelry
Material
Black Onyx , Gold

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.

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