Extraordinary Find: Helen Hayes's "Verdura for Chanel" Cuff
HOST: The next guest always thought her colorful family heirloom looked like pirates treasure. But little did she know just how precious her jewel-encrusted cuff really was, until she met collectibles expert Laura Woolley in Middletown, Connecticut.
APPRAISER (voiceover): I will never forget 2021, Wadsworth Mansion in Connecticut, cause I think this is my favorite piece that I've ever looked at on ROADSHOW.
GUEST: Well, my mother gave it to me as a wedding present about 20 years ago. It had been a gift to my mother from her great aunt Helen Hayes.
APPRAISER: And there's this wonderful gift card, I guess, that she put with it.
GUEST: Yes.
APPRAISER: Why-why don't you read how she...
GUEST: So my mother's name is Anni, and she says, "Darling Anni, your Uncle Charlie picked this as a gift for me years ago. I want you to have it, sort of as a gift of love from both of us. Devotedly, Aunt Helen."
APPRAISER: What do you know about it?
GUEST: I know almost nothing about it. I had a friend who sort of intimated that it was costume jewelry, and stones were glass. And then I showed someone a photograph of it, and they said, "Well, you know, those stones, I think they're real, and I'll give you $1,000 for it." And I said, "It's a family heirloom. I don't think I'd sell it for $1,000."
APPRAISER: So I'm not a gemologist, and I don't normally handle jewelry on the ANTIQUES ROADSHOW. But it was sent over to me because the background of this piece was really interesting and had a Hollywood connection, which is normally the kind of stuff that I'd be doing. The guest inherited it from her great aunt, Helen Hayes, who is the grande dame of the American stage and has had a long, storied career. I think she did her first play in 1905, and she was working through the '80s on television. So she just had one of the most historic careers in Hollywood. Our guest actually was in touch with us and told us that she found a photograph of Helen Hayes wearing the cuff. We already knew, based on the provenance and her story, that it was who she said it was. But to find the photo is kind of the icing on the cake.
APPRAISER: This is a design that was quite famous in the '30s, because-- this is a very long name-- Fulco Santostefano della Cerda, Duke of Verdura, was the designer who started working with Chanel...
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: ...in 1927 as a textile designer. And she liked his, his look and his, uh, designs, and Chanel put him to work to help her redesign her jewelry line. And so he famously-- one of the first pieces he made for her was a pair of Maltese cross bracelets...
GUEST: Mm-hmm. ...that look just like this.
APPRAISER: Kind of the birth of Chanel's jewelry really starts with Verdura. She first tasked him with taking some jewels from other pieces of her jewelry to create something new, and this is how he repurposed. He created the Maltese crosses. While I understood the background and the history of this piece, I knew that we needed to pull in some friends. And so we pulled in Kevin Zavian, who is a gemologist, and I will never forget. He sat down, got his little kit out, and he had his loupe, and he was very quiet, and he was kind of writing tons of notes on a little pad. All of a sudden, he stood up, and he looked at me, and he went, "It's all real!" And our eyes both lit up, and I went, "Oh, my-- this-this is a big deal. This is gonna be a big deal." And he goes, "It's beautiful." (laughs) To say that this is a rare piece is an understatement. We think a very conservative auction estimate would be at least $100,000 to $150,000.
GUEST: (clicks tongue) Goodness. Oh, my word. What a treasure, what a treasure. And to think it's been to my third grade show-and-tell class. (laughs) When I was a little girl, it was-- my mother would take it out, and it was as if I were handling something from a pirate's treasure chest, and... you brought that feeling back to me today.
APPRAISER (voiceover): And the next thing I know, in 2023, someone told me that Bonhams in New York City had sold the, the bracelet on, uh,... their jewelry auction December 4th.
AUCTIONEER: Attributed to Chanel for Vedura, a gem set, an enamel Maltese cross cuff, circa 1930, in France. And coming from the collection of such an iconic Hollywood name, Helen Hayes, I am going to open this up at... $100,000.
APPRAISER: We never thought that this was worth $100,000 to $150,000 only. That's the starting point. And everyone can line up and start getting their paddles ready to compete for it.
AUCTIONEER: The bid is with you at $340,000. I'm selling, everyone, $340,000. Say no more. Last chance. $340,000. (hammer bangs) Sold.
APPRAISER: I wasn't surprised at all. It's the, the kind of piece that, um... will probably come up once in my lifetime.
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episode
Extraordinary Finds 3
Revisit remarkable ROADSHOW finds whose stories didn’t stop even after we yelled "Cut!"
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.
